Illegal Douro wine operation shutdown near Spanish border

A covert bottling line in Vila Real, a Portuguese city near the Spanish border, has been shut down after inspectors uncovered wine falsely presented as Douro DOC reserve. The operation, conducted by ASAE with support from the Douro and Porto Wines Institute, has led to criminal proceedings.

There is something almost theatrical about a false wall in a wine plant, a shabby stage set for a drama of deception. Yet according to The Portugal News, this was precisely what the Food and Economic Security Authority found when its team stepped into a Vila Real unit engaged in bottling, marketing and exporting wine. Behind the makeshift partition lay an illicit space where Douro Controlled Designation of Origin wines were being bottled and dispatched and where bottles readied for illegal labelling were kept.

ASAE reported that 1,326 bottles were seized for being improperly labelled as Douro DOC reserve wines. Inspectors also confiscated 12,000 labels that bore the same prestigious wording. The atmosphere might have had the dry tang of a cellar, but the whiff of fraud hung far heavier.

Fraud that draws in the region’s guardians

The technical team from the Douro and Porto Wines Institute was brought in to advise on the origin of the wines, as per the statement from ASAE. Their involvement served to establish the facts with precision vital for any criminal case. ASAE confirmed that proceedings for usurping a designation of origin are now underway and that the matter has been passed to the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action.

The operation was conducted by the specialised brigade for fraudulent practices within ASAE’s northern regional unit. Its purpose was to confront malpractice involving wines with Protected Designation of Origin, DOC and Protected Geographical Indication in the municipality of Vila Real.

The broader defence of Douro’s integrity

Wine is not merely an export in Portugal but an economic backbone. The authority stated that its objective was to safeguard the authenticity and quality of the region’s wines and to ensure rigour from production through to marketing. It added that it will continue to increase inspection actions to combat fraudulent and deceptive practices across the country and to support fair competition among producers.