‘Huge problem’ of fake Yellow Tail wine plagues Birmingham shops

Two Birmingham shops have managed to keep their booze licence, but with stringent conditions, after a raid uncovered fake Yellow Tail wine bottles.

Councillors on a Birmingham City Council licensing sub-committee heard that there is a “huge problem” of fake Australian wine being sold in shops in Birmingham, a “substantial issue” involving fake bottles of the brand Yellow Tail.

Asian Trader previously reported a former Nisa shop in Sutton Coldfield lost its licence and chain branding after being caught with 41 bottles of fake Yellow Tail.

And a licensing meeting in late June heard a Spar shop in Kings Norton was found with 16 bottles of counterfeit wine from the same brand – owned by Casella Family Brands – by police and Trading Standards officers.

The meeting heard the son of the licence holder and manger of the shop had bought four boxes – a total of 24 bottles – of the wine from someone purporting to be a representative of Yellow Tail.

The bottles included Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Merlot and were being sold for £8.99 to £12.99, the meeting heard.

This is substantially less than the 409 bottles of counterfeit wine recently found at Tim’s Wine Cellar, Kings Heath – which is also subject of a licensing review.

After a hearing on 7 July, the committee decided that the shop can continue selling booze – as long as former bosses play no part in its running.

The meeting heard the shop has since changed hands following an advert being placed on Facebook Marketplace – and new owners said they did not know anything about the counterfeit bottles seized.

Former licensee Gurnek Dhesi and former designated premises supervisor (DPS) Talvinder Dhesi are now barred from “playing any role in the management, control or operation of the premises”.

But the shop may continue trading under new licence holder Rajveer Khellar.

Spar in Kings Norton can also keep its licence, the same sub-committee has decided – but extra conditions have been added including around CCTV, an incident book and refusals register and staff training.

Papers to the sub-committee show Trading Standards were notified by the Food Standards Agency in February that the shop at Lindworth Approach, Kings Norton was involved in the sale of counterfeit wine.

During the same month, a member of the public called Trading Standards to say they had “purchased a bottle wine from this premises and didn’t think it tasted as it should.”

West Midlands Police and Trading Standards officers went to the shop on March 3 and found 16 bottles which were later confirmed by Yellow Tail as counterfeit.

Duncan Craig of Citadel Chambers, representing licence holder Manjinder Dhaliwal, said: “It was not bought through an authorised wholesaler, it was a man who turned up in a van – a familiar tale to all of us.

“Clearly that shouldn’t have happened, that is highly unfortunate. It’s also right to concede that the system should have been in place for that not to happen. But you have highly persuasive evidence that this is an isolated incident.

“There is a substantial issue in Birmingham with Yellow Tail. I am encountering it with a great frequency and know it’s a huge problem. I am descending into a little bit of speculation here but there must be a significant quantity of the stuff that people are looking to offload.

“People will on occasions purchase products when they otherwise wouldn’t for example when the licence holder isn’t there and it is going to involve a wide range of culpability.”

A Spar spokesperson said following the June meeting: “We are aware of the West Midlands Police investigation into the sale of counterfeit alcohol at the independently-owned Spar store in Kings Norton, Birmingham.

“We take these reports very seriously and will assist the police and Trading Standards with their enquiries as much as we can to help assure customers of the safety and authenticity of the products on sale across our network of stores.”