Wine bottles Photo: Holger Detje
Wine counterfeiting and wine-related crime's becoming a global consumer issue; it's estimated that up to 20 percent of the wine sold worldwide is either fake or stolen.
Top restaurants publishing their extensive (and expensive) wine lists online are also making them an easy target for thieves, who are now stealing wines to order.
A recent string of thefts in the US saw the FBI enlist the help of wine fraud investigator Maureen Downey of Chai Consulting and WineFraud.com. An expert on the wine industry, she's also acted as an expert witness in several lawsuits and civil actions involving wine.
