Hong Kong customs have seized 9,000 bottles of smuggled wines inside two ocean-going vessels headed to Shanghai in a massive raid that led to seizure of more than HK$200 million (US$25.6 million) worth of smuggled goods Read More
Crime
65 people have now been confirmed dead after drinking toxic alcohol in India’s northeastern Bihar state, the biggest and deadliest alcohol poisoning case since the state banned alcohol six years ago, according to local news reports. Read More
Fujian, the affluent coastal province in southern China, has announced one of the province's biggest fake wine busts in its history: over 40,000 bottles of fake DBR Lafite and Penfolds were uncovered in a police raid. Read More
Chinese Canadian winery owner who spent five years in a Chinese prison on charges of ice wine smuggling has defiantly maintained his innocence and recalled being "treated like corpses on a battlefield," in his first interview after release. Read More
Pierre Castel, one of the richest billionaires in the wine industry and founder of world’s third largest wine producer Castel, is being hit with US$416 million tax bill ordered by a Swiss court, according to a Bloomberg report. Read More
The value of the wines involved would make it the largest wine smuggling case uncovered in recent years in China, and the amount of taxes evaded according to the report alone amounted to RMB 127 million (US$17.5 million). Read More
Chinese Customs authorities in Gongbei, Guangdong have seized RMB 35 million (US$5.04 million) worth of smuggled Penfolds that were funnelled from tax-free Macau to mainland China, as demand for the popular Australian wine brand continues to remain high despite crushing tariffs. Read More
Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), the parent company of popular brand Penfolds, has secured a landmark win in China's highest court against Penfolds copycat 'Rush Rich' after six years of legal battle spanning courts in Australia and China. Read More
Over 30 magnums of top Bordeaux wines including all first growths are among wines that are rejected from entering into mainland China market for what Chinese authorities determined as “labelling issue”. Read More
A mastermind behind evading alcohol taxes in Singapore has been handed a lofty fine in the country's "largest and longest-running" booze syndicate. Read More