(TheDrinksBusiness) - Bordeaux still operates under a culture of omertà, according to one of the region’s most respected producers.

Speaking at a dinner in London organised by Bordeaux specialist merchant EFWines, Jean-Michel Laporte, director of Château La Conseillante in Pomerol, told the drinks business: “There are winemakers who are real liars in the region that haven’t been outed or caught because a culture of omertà still exists in Bordeaux.

“Producers live and work by a code of silence. When you scratch below the surface, Bordeaux is a very unprofessional region in the way it does business.”

Despite the prevailing code of silence, Laporte believes there is little room in the region for extreme manipulation.

“A few producers were guilty of keeping their best barrels for samples while the majority tasted completely different, but the négociants caught onto it and stopped buying their wine,” he told db.

However, barrel manipulation is still very much alive in the region.