Several parties in the Languedoc have been formally charged with selling millions of euros of fake Pinot Noir to Ernest & Julio Gallo for its Red Bicyclette brand.

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--> Following an investigation that lasted over a year, French public prosecutor Francis Battut arraigned the accused before a three-person tribunal in Carcassonne, recommending prison sentences and heavy fines.

The 13 defendants include executives from two wineries and five co-operatives, as well as negociant Ducasse and conglomerate Sieur d'Arques. Only the latter denied the charges.

'The executives from Sieur d'Arques maintain they were unaware the wine they were selling to their American client was not Pinot Noir, even though one of their own winemakers admitted it,' Battut told decanter.com.

'I think they were mocking the court.'

Between 2006 and 2008, Sieur d'Arques allegedly sold 135,000 hectolitres of vin de Pays d'Oc labelled Pinot Noir to E&J Gallo for €4m (£350m).

460 oil tankers worth of vino