Offshore raids turn up fake Aussie Jacob's Creek wines

RAIDS by council inspectors in London have turned up hundreds of bottles of counterfeit wines from China labelled as well-known Australian brand Jacob's Creek, The Advertiser reports.

Havering Council officers seized 340 bottles of fake Jacob's Creek from 19 bottle shops across the borough in recent weeks.

William Adams, chief trading standards officer at Havering council, said the illegal wine had come from China and looked very similar to the original product but there were spelling mistakes in the small print.

A spokesman for Pernod Ricard, owner of Jacob's Creek Wines, said the company had launched an investigation into the counterfeit wines after customers complained about the quality.

Jacobs Creek is an iconic Australian wine brand -- first released in 1976 -- named after a waterway in the Barossa Valley, South Australia.

It is regarded as one of Australia's most successful export wines and is available in dozens of countries across the globe.