winemaker jailed for selling fake Champagne

Didier Chopin has been jailed for 18 months after carbonating hundreds of thousands of bottles of still wine from Spain and France and passing them off as Champagne.

Arrested man in handcuffs with handcuffed hands behind back in prison

A court in Reims sentenced French winemaker Didier Chopin to 18 months in prison, with an additional 30 months suspended, during a hearing on Tuesday 2 September in which Chopin stood accused of selling counterfeit ‘Champagne’.

His crime was referred to by the prosecution as “a cynical and premeditated scam” in which Chopin and his wife had sold hundreds of thousands of bottles of fake Champagne through their holding company, SAS Chopin, to droves of unknowing customers. The liquid they were passing off as Champagne was in actual fact still wine from Spain and France to which Chopin had added “aromas and gas” to ape the famous sparkling wine, heard the court.

The fraud has been estimated at several million euros.

Bouncing cheques

Chopin’s fake Champagne crime was first uncovered by employees of SAS Chopin in 2023, with their employer fleeing to Morocco to launch a new vegetable farming business when the news broke. He was arrested in Morocco on a separate charge and jailed in the African country for writing cheques that bounced. His lawyer told the court in Reims that Chopin had already spent seven months in jail in Morocco “in horrible conditions”, and therefore deserved no more than a suspended sentence.

However, the Reims court seemingly threw the book at Chopin.

He has been banned from ever running a company again, and is prohibited from working in the Champagne industry for a minimum of five years. Chopin and his wife were also fined €10,000 each, and their holding company SAS Chopin fined €300,000 for “embezzlement” and “misuse of company assets”. The couple were further instructed to pay damages to trade association the Comité Champagne, as well as a number of wine buyers.

Additionally, Chopin’s wife received a two-year suspended prison sentence for fraud and the “theft of a protected brand name”.

Speaking to court reporters, Chopin, from Aisne in northern France, said: “I made a mistake, I am ruined and I have nothing else to add.”

The second half of the trial, which addresses customs violations, namely the export of Chopin’s fake Champagne, is due to take place on 3 February 2026.

Cracking down on crime

The Champagne industry is cracking down on crime within the region, and some say it’s not before time.

In July, three individuals were jailed for human trafficking more than 50 victims and treating them “like slaves”, including housing them in cramped and unhygienic conditions. The victims, largely from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal, had come to work the harvest and been accommodated in an “appalling” sanitary state, which “seriously undermined” their safety, health and dignity, said the labour inspectorate who examined the housing for the grape pickers.

“You don’t play with the health and safety of seasonal workers. Nor are we playing with the image of our appellation,” warned the Comité Champagne after the landmark ruling.