Taiwanese billionaire implicated in fake wine charges

A billionaire wine collector has been linked to the sale of counterfeit wine bottles that local media say could be worth NT$1 billion (nearly $31 million).

Wood Chen, founder and former chairman of Taiwanese electronics giant Yageo Corp, is believed to be behind bottles of vintage Burgundy sold by two high-end merchants, Top 100 Wine and UMC, that are suspected of being fake and were sold to Taiwan’s rich and famous.

The story emerged following a tip-off to the Taiwanese Justice Ministry. Businesses Today According to the news service, a bottle from Coche-Dury winery was flagged as possibly counterfeit during a high-end tasting session due to its taste and inconsistencies with the bottle. After the bottle was identified as a Top 100 wine, other customers began checking their own collections and discovered other potential counterfeits.

Top 100 Wine owner Huang Huihong has agreed to accept returns and refund customers, according to Businesses Todayand reportedly said the suspicious wines came from Wood Chen.

Wood Chen is the brother of Pierre Chen, an entrepreneur and wine enthusiast whose iconic collection of Champagne and Burgundy vintages, called The Epicurean’s Atlas, is set to be auctioned by Sotheby’s and is expected to fetch around $50 million. There is no evidence that Pierre Chen’s collection contains fake bottles.

The billionaire defended his collection, which he has been selling since 2019, saying: “With many wines in a collection, it is normal to have bad ones. My collection is vast and it is impossible for all the wines to be perfect. But to accuse me of selling fake wines is excessive.”