Bubble burst: French winemaker jailed for huge champagne fraud

A French winemaker who made and sold thousands of bottles of fake champagne in an elaborate scam involving carbonating Spanish wine was jailed Tuesday. (Pexels)

A French winemaker who made and sold thousands of bottles of fake champagne in an elaborate scam involving carbonating Spanish wine was jailed Tuesday.

Didier Chopin, 56, was also barred from ever running a company again and from working in the champagne industry for at least five years.

Chopin sold hundreds of thousands of bottles of fake champagne he made with wines from Spain and southern France, to which he added aromas and gas to make them sparkling.

A court in Reims -- the biggest city in the Champagne region -- sentenced him to 18 months behind bars, with an additional 30 months suspended.

His wife was handed a two-year suspended sentence on the same charges of fraud and theft of a protected brand name.

The fraud was estimated at several million euros, and he was ordered to pay damages to injured parties, including the champagne growers and merchants association and several buyers.

The prosecution had denounced “a cynical and premeditated” scam.

Chopin and his wife were each fined 100,000 euros and their holding company, SAS Chopin, was fined 300,000 euro fine on charges of embezzlement and misuse of company assets.

“I made a mistake, I am ruined and I have nothing else to add,” Chopin told reporters during the trial.

The winemaker from the northern Aisne region also faces a separate case after five former employees accused him of sexual assault.

His lawyer Francis Fossier argued for a suspended sentence, saying his client had already spent “seven months” in prison in Morocco “in horrible conditions”.

After the champagne fraud was revealed by former employees in 2023, Chopin fled to Morocco and launched a new vegetable farming business there. He was then arrested and jailed for bouncing cheques.

The part of the trial relating to customs violations -- the export of the fake champagne outside of France -- has been adjourned to February 3.