Gallo’s 2007 Red Bicyclette Pinot noir landed in the #2 position on booquet top charts this week. Could this, in part, be due to the buzz of scandal? Here’s the story from London’s The Independent:

It all started when investigators became suspicious that Pinot noir exports from the Languedoc-Roussillon area far exceeded historic levels.

Thirteen people including executives from two wineries, five co-operatives, négociant Ducasse and conglomerate Sieur d’Arques have been charged with selling Gallo millions of dollars’ worth of wine which was labelled pinot noir, but which, if truth be allegedly told, wasn’t. The quantity involved is staggering – 3.57 million gallons, enough to fill 16 million bottles, or 460 oil tankers.

If the defendants are found guilty, this scandal will join an elite group of international fine wine cons: A component of antifreeze added to Austrian wine (1985); Italian table wines made of water, methanol, plus a little red wine for (1986); the great mislabeled Bordeaux Case of 1989; Sauvignon Blanc fortified with green peppers and synthetic methoxypyrazine (2005); and sugar added to Beaujolais (2007).

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