Cafes and bistros in the French capital have been cheating customers, including visitors to the city, by replacing high-end wines with cheap alternatives but charging quality rates
An investigation has uncovered that cafes in Paris, France, have been duping customers by serving cheap wine disguised as pricey options.
The probe revealed that establishments across the French capital have been fooling patrons, including tourists, by substituting top-shelf wines with budget-friendly ones while charging premium prices. For instance, high-end chablis, typically sold for about €9 (£7.66) a glass, have been replaced with sauvignon, which costs closer to €5 (£4.26) per glass.
The exposé was conducted by the French newspaper Le Parisien, which enlisted two wine sommeliers to identify when wines had been switched. These experts masqueraded as English-speaking tourists while visiting various restaurants, cafes, and bistros in Paris on behalf of the paper.
Hospitality workers in Paris confessed to the publication that this deceit is rampant, particularly in tourist-heavy areas of the city.
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A seasoned waitress with more than three decades in the industry disclosed to Le Parisien: “You can serve the wine you want. People don’t have the sense of taste to spot it. It can be beaujolais, Côte du Rhône, Brouilly or any other wine. A sommelier knows the difference, but the tourist has no idea. I sometimes even empty leftover wine into one bottle for the happy hour.”
One waiter confessed that he was instructed to serve a cheaper wine to avoid opening and potentially wasting a pricier bottle. He admitted: “The boss would tell us off if the most expensive bottle was going down too quickly. Only once did a customer discover the trick. He was a sommelier.”
Master wine merchant Marina Giuberti, one of the experts involved in the investigation, immediately noticed that a sancerre priced at €7.50 per glass had been swapped with a cheaper sauvignon listed at €5.60 on the menu at a venue she visited. Even after her complaint, the waiter served her another glass of the incorrect wine.
She expressed her disappointment, saying: “It’s a pity for the customer and for the image of the wine appellation, for the winemaker and for the restaurant owners who do a good job. We’re in France, the home of wine. We have to give tips to the consumer.”
Experts advised customers, as reported by a French newspaper, to insist on having their wine poured from the bottle in front of them, a practice which is legally required in Paris.
Jérôme Bauer, an Alsace winemaker and leader of the National Confederation of AOC (appellation contrôlée) wine producers, voiced his concern: “Cheating the customer rebounds on us, the producers, because a customer who has ordered a Côte du Rhône and gets served a Bordeaux wine will probably be disappointed and can turn away from that wine in the future.”