REIMS, FRANCE — Prosecutors have called for a four-year prison sentence, with three years suspended, for 56-year-old winemaker Didier Chopin, accused of orchestrating an elaborate champagne fraud in eastern France.
At the trial held in Reims, Chopin was also asked to pay a €100,000 fine for fraud and misuse of a protected designation of origin. He allegedly produced and sold hundreds of thousands of fake champagne bottles between 2022 and 2023, using wines from Spain and southern France. He added artificial aromas and carbonised gas to mimic genuine champagne.
Authorities estimate the scam’s total value to be several million euros.
Prosecutors also requested a two-year suspended prison sentence and a €100,000 fine for Chopin’s wife, charging her with the same offenses. They described the couple’s actions as driven by “a cynical and premeditated logic of profit” and requested they be permanently banned from operating any business in the champagne industry.
Additionally, the prosecution called for the confiscation of all seized property and the destruction of all counterfeit bottles. The couple’s holding company, SAS Chopin, may also face a €300,000 fine for embezzlement and misuse of company assets.
Chopin, who fled to Morocco after the fraud was uncovered by former employees in 2023, was later arrested and imprisoned there over financial offenses. He told reporters during the trial, “This is a sad conclusion. I made a mistake, I am ruined and I have nothing else to add.”
His lawyer, Francis Fossier, pleaded for a fully suspended sentence, citing Chopin’s prior incarceration in Morocco under harsh conditions.
A separate hearing concerning customs violations related to exporting fake champagne has been postponed to February 3, 2026. Chopin also faces an additional legal case, as five former employees have accused him of sexual assault.
The Reims court is expected to deliver its verdict on September 2.
