Does your glass of Bordeaux wine taste a little Spanish?

The wine industry hates it when its bad news is shouted from the rooftops.

So I don't expect much love for this story, as sentences have been handed down in in a massive Bordeaux wine fraud case.

The case hit the courts after millions of litres of wine, much of it Spanish in origin, was passed off as Bordeaux of higher quality.

The fraud centred on the small vintage in 2013, it was heard in evidence.

Jean-Sébastien Laflèche, a broker based in Saint-Loubès, north-east of Bordeaux city, and Michel Gilin, a former wine merchant at the Celliers Vinicoles du Blayais, were handed 24 and 20-month prison sentences respectively, although both were commuted to house arrest.

Laflèche and Gilin were also given fines of €453,000 including property seizure, and the pair was banned from being involved in any wine merchant-based business for five years.

Three other defendants given suspended sentences and €20,000 in fines.

The five defendants were fined €670,000 between them for "irregular circulation of goods" with Laflèche and Gilin also facing €12,500 in private party damages.

"These fines are totally out of proportion," Sophie Benayoun, representing Laflèche, was quoted by French regional news outlet FranceBleu.

"And also unfair because it's always the lamplighters, the little guys in the dock. The big players are protected - or perhaps not, I don't know - but in any case, they are not under the scrutiny of the courts."

The defendants were reported as being likely to appeal their sentences.

Thousands of bottles of fake Penfolds wines seized

Police in China's eastern Jiangsu province have foiled a fake wine production ring and seized over 8,000 bottles of counterfeit Penfolds wine purportedly worth over $2 million. 

Although China’s crushing tariffs on Australia’s most famous wine brand have halted most exports, fake bottles are still being sold, Chinese website Vino Joy reports. 

The fake wine manufacturing and selling network was discovered after a customer reported a suspicious Penfolds Bin 407 bought from an online shop for RMB 699 ($150). 

The customer noted its “poor taste” and the price disparity of the same wine sold through official channels, which are considerably more expensive. 

The police investigation discovered that the wine’s packaging, logo and workmanship were  inconsistent with Penfolds products, and that Penfolds did not authorise the online shop to produce or sell goods with the Penfolds registered trademark.

It is believed close to $20 million worth of fake Penfolds wines have been sold through the online shop and its associated wine shops across China, Vino Joy reported.

The raid revealed that the ring has been producing counterfeit wines and spirits that go beyond Penfolds and include Hennessy and Martell cognacs and China’s own Great Wall wine.

A total of six suspects were arrested on site and over 8,000 bottles of semi-finished and bottled fake wines were seized, as well as other packaging, capsules etc.