Ared scare is sweeping the well-stocked cellars of wealthy Australians. It is not a political frenzy, but a justifiable terror that some of their prized possessions may be forgeries. The worry came to light recently when one of Australia's leading wine experts, auctioneer Stewart Langton, discovered a batch of six bottles of precious 1990 Penfold's Grange Hermitage were counterfeit.
The discovery has sent panic through the ranks of wine collectors and professional sommeliers at expensive hotels. It has also made exporters of costly Australian wines worried: if the nation's most venerable wine can be faked, what other vintages are safe? In the country's leading wine bar, Jimmy Watson's in Melbourne, there was little else discussed last week. Tampering with this national icon is akin to treason. The Grange is by far Australia's most renowned and prestigious wine and, like its racehorses and sportsmen, a potent symbol of national pride.
The drama began when Mr Langton prepared to put a consignment of the precious shiraz under the hammer. His trained eye noted some peculiarities. First, the bar code was printed in black, not red. Black labels did not begin until 1991, the following year. Mr Langton then thought the wine was not the precise hue. The metal capsule was also too long and the bottle too full.
The shock went far beyond wine circles. Victorian state police and the Australian Federal Police were called in. Overseas trade offices and the global distribution system of Southcorp, the corporate owners of Penfolds, have been alerted.
At this stage, the six bottles which the unidentified seller tried to auction are the only known cases. The uncertainty has caused a worried examination of stocks, says Melbourne wine guru Roy Moorfield.
There have long been rumours among serious collectors in Asia about counterfeit wines. Most of the suspect vintages have been copies of ferociously expensive French classics.
