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Outlook: Cracking a $30m case of wine fraud

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Maureen Downey

17/08/2022 GMT

Cracking a $30m case of wine fraud

BBC World Service - Outlook, Cracking a $30m case of wine fraud

How wine detective Maureen Downey uncovered a huge counterfeiting operation

How wine detective Maureen Downey uncovered a huge counterfeiting operation.

Fill your glasses, today we celebrate the work of the sommeliers of both wine and water.

In the world of fine wines some people spend tens of thousands of dollars on single bottles. But it is also an industry that has been plagued with fakes. Maureen Downey is a 'wine detective' who uncovered a multi-million dollar wine counterfeiting operation. She spoke to Outlook in 2018.

Michael Masha says that when he takes a bottle of 4000-year-old iceberg water to a party, it goes down much better than an expensive champagne. He's an Austrian water sommelier who discovered the trade when a serious health condition meant he could no longer drink wine. His story was first broadcast in 2017.

Joseph Dhafana was living in South Africa as a Zimbabwean refugee and down on his luck when he discovered he had a rare talent for detecting aromas in wine. He went on to take the wine-tasting world by storm and took the first all-black team to the World Wine Tasting Championships.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

(Photo: Maureen Downey. Credit: Jonathan Wong/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

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