For wine collectors, provenance is everything. With as much as 20% of all wine circulating the globe deemed to be fake, it’s hardly surprising. In days past, sniffing out a bogus burgundy required a good nose and an eye for detail. Now, thanks to blockchain technology, the problem is being resolved at its root — or should that be at the vine?
Sommeliers, vintners, collectors and other connoisseurs of the red stuff go to great lengths to determine authenticity. From the weight of the bottle to eyeing anomalies in the year of production, right down to inspection of the bottle glass, the stamp on the cork and the label glue, the tiniest discrepancy can be the biggest red flag. But somehow, every year, thousands of bottles of counterfeit wine slip the net.