|
|
|
|
Press
Release |
Contact: |
Yonkers, NY - July 31, 2000 - Consumers
Union (CU) of U.S., the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, will
file a motion asking the Federal District Court in Los Angeles to
dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by F. Korbel & Bros., Inc. and
Korbel Champagne Cellars, Inc., the makers of Korbel California
Champagne, over publication of a November
1999 Consumer Reports article judging
champagnes and sparkling wines.
In response to Korbel's complaints about CU's
tests, Dr. R. David Pittle, Consumers Union's Senior Vice President
and Technical Director gave the following statement:
"We are totally baffled by this suit, which we
believe to be frivolous, a gross misuse of the courts, and an
insidious attempt to silence an honest critic. While several of the
other brands of tested champagnes were found to be 'excellent,' our
expert consultants found Korbel California Champagne, Brut to be a
solid, drinkable champagne, which they evaluated as 'good' overall.
We conducted a totally blind taste-test; the experts never knew which
brands they were testing-neither before nor during the test. Our
taste test was conducted and supervised throughout by CU's Sensory
Scientist, in the impartial, independent, and unbiased way that we
demand of all our test projects."
Dr. Pittle pointed out that Korbel's other
claims are also baseless:
· Consumer Reports did not misstate Korbel's production process. "Any fair reading of our article (p.19, "Fine print for fine wine") shows that we correctly and explicitly described Korbel champagne as being produced by the 'methode champenoise,'" said Dr. Pittle. "Korbel itself says it uses this method."
· Korbel's claim about a decline in its sales is contradicted by the published statement of its company president, who was quoted in Wine Today on December 4, 1999 saying: "We're sold out. We could not sell one more bottle." Also, the July 3, 2000 issue of PR News cites Korbel's public relations office as reporting that: "Korbel sales and revenue exceeded all other champagnes during the month of December 1999, and beat out table wines for the first time ever, realizing a 22% sales increase over the course of the 12-month promotion. In fact, the winery produced to capacity (an additional 200,000 cases) in preparation for New Year's Eve, and completely sold out."
· Korbel's claims about a bias in the Consumer Reports wine consultants is false. "These experts, whose identities are confidential by a mutual agreement signed at the project's start, have more than 20 years of experience each in professional wine tasting and education. Both have judged national and international wine competitions over the past 15 years. Neither has worked for any of the companies whose products were compared in this project. In our test, they followed a blind taste-test protocol that our Sensory Scientist developed and oversaw throughout."
Dr. Pittle concluded, "We believe this is a
frivolous lawsuit brought to harass us, and we will vigorously defend
Consumers Union's rights to forthrightly and honestly evaluate
products. We have asked our attorneys to investigate Consumers
Union's rights to recover its costs, expenses, and fees and to
counterclaim for damages caused by the filing of this meritless
action."
Read the November
1999 CR article on champagnes and
sparkling wines...
Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, is an independent, nonprofit testing and information-gathering organization, serving only the consumer. We are a comprehensive source of unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health, nutrition, and other consumer concerns. Since 1936, our mission has been to test products, inform the public, and protect consumers.
