Jancis Robinson MW and Nick Lander (Mr Jancis Robinson) do not sell wine!

Jancis Robinson MW 

@Montreux November 2014

Warning to wine producers and négociants: 

Jancis Robinson MW is one of the world's leading wine communicators. However, neither she nor Nicholas Lander, the restaurant critic and Jancis' husband, sell wine. This, however, has not stopped a fraudster or fraudsters pretending to be Nick Lander in order to scam producers out of wine. 

This is clearly a new twist to the unfortunately well established scam of pretending to be a wine buyer for an established UK wine company. 

There are clues from within the scam emails that this is a fraud. The most obvious is that the email address used editorials@jancirobinson.com misses the s in Jancis. Also the company name given is incorrect.

If you receive one of these scam emails do not reply. Instead please forward it to Jancis.

Jancis has contacted ActionFraud, so far to no avail. I am not surprised. Budget cuts to our police service must be affecting our police forces, who were already struggling to cope with the now huge amount of fraud around. If you pay for a Trabant you cannot expect a Bentley!

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Here are extracts from Jancis' post on the scam emails:  

 

'2 June 2015 Early last Friday a wine merchant based in Carcassonne forwarded the following email to me from the subtly-different-from-ours email address, editorials at jancirobinson dot com (note the missing S on Jancis): 

Dear Sir, 

We are a company based in the united kingdom and We would like to inquire about your products (Food,Wine,Champagne,etc...) 

We will be very please to build a business relationship with your company on a long term contract.

So this will be at the same time an opportunity to establish a permanent business relationship.

We strongly believe in the principle of working together as partners.

In which everyone benefits - and these long-term relationships are vital to the continuing success of both parties.

So we would be appreciate if you could send us your price list of : Wine, Champagne, Whisky for our order confirmation.

And in the meantime, also open a credit line 14 days payment from date of invoice by credit insurance.

For more information please feel free to visit our website at http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles

Our terms of payment Strictly net 14 days payment from date of invoice after credit insurance this is not negotiable we are looking for wine suppliers to build strong relationships The key of success, both-parties-satisfied.

Thanks as we hope to establish a long business relationship with your company.

We are looking forwards to hear from you as soon as possible.

With best regards,

Nicholas Lander

Export Manager

www.jancisrobinson.com

JANCISROBINSON Ltd

Tel:+44 (0)8006891849

Fax:+44 (0)2080430299

editorials@jancirobinson.com

export@jancirobinson.com

nicholas.lander@jancirobinson.com

Just above the telephone and fax numbers and the email addresses (none of them having any connection to us) is given our personal address and the number and VAT number of our company  - all of these details freely available from Companies House in the UK. 

Soon after receiving this I sent an email to editorials@jancirobinson.com telling whichever fraudster was behind the attempted scam to stop, pointing out it was highly damaging to the genuine JancisRobinson.com. Later that day a wine trader based in Spain kindly forwarded me an identical email he had received, together with the complete details of the header, IP address etc, which yielded frustratingly little.

I phoned the 0800 number at the bottom of the email and got a series of recorded messages such as 'For customer service press 1, for exports press 2' etc. I pressed 1 and, when no one answered, rang off. Less than 30 minutes later my phone rang (a very rare occurrence; I have almost entirely swapped phone for email) and a gentleman with a very deep, very unEuropean voice claimed, as soon as he heard my voice, to be seeking 'Pete in transport'. I challenged him, pointing out that I suspected he was the behind these scam emails. He insisted that he must have dialled a wrong number. I heard him looking down at my number (which begins 0207) and claiming he had wanted the same number that begins with 0208 (which does not, of course, exist as a genuine telephone number).

For a short while we were worried that our extremely securely stored list of email recipients had been hacked, since both of the first two merchants to bring this to our attention are members of JancisRobinson.com. But since then it has become clear that the fraudster has been accessing lists of wine traders based in continental Europe that have nothing whatsoever to do with us. And is still sending out these emails today, Tuesday.

Just in, for example, is this comment from Sarah Chadwick, who represents Dourthe, yet another recipient of the badly written email above:

'We receive scam emails similar to this regularly but normally taking the identity of BBR [Berry Bros & Rudd], Sainsburys, etc. This takes scamming to new heights.'

It is a well-known ruse for a fraudster to try to order and have delivered expensive wines and spirits to an accommodation address and then to scarper without paying for them. But this scam - attempting to establish credibility as a wine buyer by pretending to be my husband, the well-known 'export manager' of JancisRobinson.com, reaches new levels of stupidity. I spend quite a bit on wine admittedly, but in general wine writers are not known to be major purchasers of high-value wines and spirits. And, I would hope, quite a few of the recipients of this email would know that (a) I am not in the business of establishing long-term trading partnerships with wine merchants and (b) I do actually know how to spell and punctuate.

Please do forward any instances of this pernicious correspondence to editorial@jancisrobinson.com (sic) but for heaven's sake ignore it otherwise.

The latest update:

11 September 2015 Deep sigh. The action goes on. Several times a week we receive enquiries from people who have received similar emails supposedly from Nick and asking whether they are genuine. The fraudster always attempts to place huge orders. Whatever does he do with the goods that do arrive, I wonder? I have re-reported it to Action Fraud. Very frustrating.

Read the rest here. http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/scam-emails-purportedly-from-nick

Primeurs 2010 - when to publish? asks Jancis Robinson MW

Jancis Robinson MW@a conference in Porto December 2010

Good and thought-provoking article by Jancis Robinson MW asking how journalists covering the 2010 Bordeaux en primeur tastings can avoid becoming part of Bordeaux's sales machine:

23 Mar 2011 by Jancis Robinson

'It looks, against all odds, as though Bordeaux may just have another sought-after vintage on its hands with the 2010s (see Vintage reputations - the struggle for truth). Asian markets, with the tragic exception of Japan, seem to be on fire for classic, investment-grade wines. The Americans look ready to come back into the picture for Bordeaux primeurs, having sat out 2009s to a great extent. Many economies are in a much healthier state than the British one, and even in the UK there is no shortage of potential investors with, for example, bonuses burning to find an amusing home. No wonder the UK's fine-wine traders are in such fine fettle. This year they don't even seem to be bothering to demand reasonable pricing from the top Bordeaux proprietors - who are currently rolling in cash, as any visitor to the Médoc and its myriad building projects can attest.

I have already tasted some 2010s and can see that there will be considerable interest in them. I am going back to Bordeaux twice, once at the end of this month and once at the beginning of next, to taste this embryonic vintage as thoroughly as is possible as usual, but I really do wonder what to do with my tasting notes.'

Read the rest here: http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201103204.html

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Probably the only way for journalists to escape Bordeaux sales machine is not to go until the wines are closer to being ready and after the prices have been released. By which time, of course, most of the wines will have been sold and a critics comments may not be very relevant.

See also the open letter from Michel Bettane, the prominent French wine critic, to Sylvie Cazes of the UGCB. 

Jancis Robinson MW: Bordeaux 2009 - don't part with a penny!

Excellent warning from Jancis not to part with any money for 2009 Bordeaux en primeur before prices have been released and allocations secured. 

'16 Apr 2010 by Jancis Robinson

Shocking tales are emerging of opportunistic entrepreneurs trying to persuade inexperienced wine buyers to invest in 2009 Bordeaux before any serious prices have even been released - let alone any allocations made. It is a familiar and justifiable practice among well-established primeur merchants such as the UK specialists we list here to ask their customers to submit wish lists. But because there has been such hullabulloo about the 2009s, even in the mainstream media, some lurkers on the periphery of the wine trade have been tempted to try to part innocent investors from their money even at this early stage. They are being...'

to read the rest you will have to subscribe to Janicis' Purple Pages

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Another dubious claim: invest in 2009 petit châteaux Bordeaux!

The Telegraph ran a piece on wine investment yesterday, which concluded thus:

'Simon Staples, sales director at wine merchants Berry Bros & Rudd, said wine started to catch on as an investment in 1996, a top year in Bordeaux, but really took off from 2003. 

During the financial crisis, investor interest continued to rise because wine, like gold, is a tangible asset. Prices dipped after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008 but picked up again from the middle of last year as confidence returned to the City. Prices of top Bordeaux at Berry Bros are also being driven by huge Chinese demand.

"China has a new thirst for the top 20 brands from Bordeaux," Mr Staples said. "Lafite is going up 15pc or 20pc a month in just about every vintage."

Start your investment with a 2009 Bordeaux from Telegraph Wines'

If you click on Telegraph Wines you go to an offer of 2009 petit châteaux from Averys of Bristol (owned by the UK's largest wine mail order company. These wines may prove to be an investment in pleasure but they will certainly not be a financial investment. Misleading and irresponsible both by the Telegraph and Avery's of Bristol particularly given that the ad came immediately after an article trumpeting the financial returns possible from top Bordeaux.     

2009 Bordeaux en primeur – some sources of information

The big en primeur tasting week is now well over and journalists and buyers are now posting their impressions of the 2009 vintage on various sites. Here is a small selection:

Journalists:

Jancis Robinson MW`

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a20100408.html

Decanter
Bordeaux 2009 - Scores, tasting notes, news and views - En Primeur coverage on decanter.com

http://www.decanter.com/specials/296209.html

Tim Atkin MW: How good are the 2009 Bordeaux?
http://timatkin.com/articles/article.html?cat=Latest%20articles&id=486

Panos Kakaviatos

http://www.connectionstowine.com/bordeaux-2009/bordeaux-2009-complete-tasting-notes/

Guardian video with scenes from the en primeur tastings

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2010/apr/07/bordeaux-2009-wine-france

Jane MacQuitty: A crimson classic: Bordeaux vintage is everything we heard on the grapevine

 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/wine/article7086273.ece

Anthony Rose: 2009 Bordeaux – power and the glory
http://www.anthonyrosewine.com/journal/2010/4/my-top-100-bordeaux-2009-power-and-glory

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Companies:

Berry Bros & Rudd

Berry's Bordeaux blog: http://bbrblog.com/category/berrys-in-bordeaux/

Bordeaux Index

http://www.bordeauxindex.com/primeur.php

Corney & Barrow blog
http://www.candbscene.co.uk/bordeaux/bordeaux-2009-day-1

Farr Vintners

http://www.farrvintners.com/en_primeur.php

Includes blog by well respected Bordeaux expert – Michael Schuster.

European Fine Wines Ltd: Pavie 2003

An enquiry received earlier this week:

I’ve just purchased some fine wines from this organisation. I put a 10% deposit down for 2 x cases of Pavie 2003 = £3556. Can you advise on where best I can assess fine wines prices to make sure that I’ve not overpaid?

‘This is the response over my concerns that I’ve received from one of the directors at EFW:-

"I appreciate your need to satisfy questions of due diligence, and trust that these answers will provide sufficient reassurance.

1. The Independent. The thrust of the Independent article is to say that the purchaser should ensure that they have full and clear title to their wine, and we wholeheartedly support this. As with all large value items, be they cars, houses or, in this instance, fine wine, there is the potential for the unwary investor to be caught out.

I would point you towards our web site - www.efwines.com <http://www.efwines.com> - and ask you to look at our 'Some Golden Rules for Fine Wine Investment' pamphlet. The body of the document describes the basic approach to the market, but the end section is a checklist of all the elements that an investor should take in to account.

2. We are an independent and active seller of fine wines, and our client profile is more inclined to the general public than perhaps some of the merchants that have served many generations of the same family. Over the last five years we have become recognised as a progressive and reputable company, and are frequently requested to be contributors to wine market features and articles, e.g. The Financial Times. The investment guide was in fact produced as part of our contribution to a debate on alternative investments that was aired on a number of radio programmes nationally and regionally, including the BBC, featuring my colleague David Evans who is our investment expert.

3. The wine we have proposed, Pavie 2003, is a very high scoring wine as is shown on the attached tasting notes, having been awarded 98+ by Robert Parker, and is undoubtedly an excellent investment grade wine that would form a good basis for a wine portfolio. It is possible to find this wine quoted at anything from £1,300 to more than £2,000 per case. At the low end I would be cautious on either provenance or genuine availability, and suggest that we are midway on price but offer a guaranteed quality together with a condition report - in other words I have no hesitation in saying that our product meets all investment criteria."

My response
European Fine Wines Ltd was incorporated on 15.8.2005 and its registered and trading office is at 68 Lombard Street, London EC3V 9LJ – a business centre run by Regus.

Their website (www.efwines.co.uk) is registered in the name of Scott Assemakis.

Looking at Wine-Searcher prices for a case of 2003 Château Pavie from UK merchants range from £1270 (en primeur ltd) to Friarwood Fine Wine at £3249. Taking account of the advice from EFW's director 'At the low end I would be cautious on either provenance or genuine availability', Wilkinson Vintners, one of the UK's leading wine brokers, has 2003 Pavie listed at £1280 a case. (These prices exclude duty and vat.) Two cases bought from Wilkinson would cost the investor £2560 against £3556 from European Fine Wines – a saving of £996.

My advice
I can see no good reason for the client to pay nearly £1000 more for the two cases from European Fine Wines. Unless EFW buys from France it is quite likely that they buy from large broking companies like Bordeaux Index, Farr Vintners and Wilkinson Vintners. Inevitably EFW's prices must be higher than Wilkinson's to cover their costs and to make a profit, so it would be wise for the investor to cut out an additional link in the supply chain and buy at the lower price.

As Wilkinson Vintners do not manage customer reserves, buying from them would involve the investors setting up their own account with the bonded warehouse, so may a little more complicated than buying from EFW. However, my advice is that it is best to have your own account, especially if you intend to store a considerable amount of wine, as this gives you full control over your wines. If they are stored in your name but under a merchant's umbrella account, the merchant's agreement is required if you want to move or sell your wine. This can be particularly problematic if for any reason it becomes difficult or impossible to contact the merchant or if they go bust.

Importantly having your own account also stops unprincipled wine merchants 'borrowing' your stock they receive tempting orders that they need to fulfil quickly. Of course this shouldn't happen but this may be more common practice than is generally realised.

2003 Château Pavie is a controversial wine and is famous for provoking a spat between Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson MW. See here. It is a brave and possibly not the best choice as an initial wine investment purchase. In June 2008 Wilkinson Vintners were selling 2003 Pavie for £1400 a case (data from wine-searcher). Not only has the wine dropped in value but an investor would have also been paying storage charges.

Looking at the wine's performance over the last few years I wouldn't share the EFW's view that Pavie is 'undoubtedly an excellent investment'. Wine-searcher shows that Farr Vinters, probably the UK's largest fine wine broker, were offering Pavie 2003 for £1050 (14.6.2006). The following year it had risen £1250 (offered by Nicholls & Perks 15.6.2007) and by June 2008 had reached £1400 a case (Wilkinson). Then it started to slip – L'Assemblage were offering it for £1300 (13.6.2009). A case of Pavie bought in June 2006 would be showing a gross profit of 21% over the nearly four year – 5.25% per annum. However, against this has to be set storage and insurance. If stored at Vinothèque, part of London City Bond, storage on a case costs £12.24 plus vat – £14.38 a year and £57.53 over four years. The gross gain on the case of Pavie is reduced from £230 to £172.47 – a rise of 16.43% over four years or 4.1% a year. Although this is better than most cash ISA's, the calculation doesn't take account of the commission due on the selling the wine, which will further reduced the profit.

At present looks like the market is more in sympathy with Jancis Robinson's negative view than that of Robert Parker.

Bought at the right price long term 2003 Pavie may show a profit but I'm not sure I would bet on it and I certainly wouldn't want to pay nearly £500 over the realistic market price. If I was the investor I would be asking for my 10% deposit back under the Distance Selling Regulations.

I have emailed Gregory Assemakis, director of European Fine Wines, to respond.