Part of the first page of a devastating 6-page exposé of 1855 in

February's La Revue du Vin de France 

On October 11th 2012 the well–connected Emeric Sauty de Chalon, founder and president of the delinquent 1855.com, will turn 39. Will his creation – apparently much admired by Charles Ponzi – still be in business in just under 10 months or will 1855’s manifest failings finally bring it down after 17 turbulent years?

Whether 1855 survives is not in the hands of Emeric Sauty de Chalon nor the hands Fabien Hyon, the managing director of the 1855 group, which now includes Cave Privée  and chateauonline. With its voracious appetite for 1855 its future will be decided by long-time shareholders like banker Jean-Pierre Meyers on the boards of L’Oréal and Nestlé and is the husband of Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, daughter of L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt and herself an investor in 1855. Meyers is said by Jérôme Baudouin (La Revue du Vin de France: February 2012) to have ‘invested’ 8m-10m euros into 1855 and his wife one million.

Baudouin suggests in his detailed and devastating exposé of 1855 in the February 2012 edition of RVF that Meyers is now seeking to distance himself from 1855. Given Meyers’ wealth it is likely that damage to his reputation would be the decisive factor rather than a question of money.    

Should Jean-Pierre Meyers, described as a discreet banker (http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2010/12/06/964908-jean-pierre-meyers-un-discret-banquier-au-coeur-du-systeme-bettencourt.html) decide to pull the plug because his association with the scandal ridden 1855 is damaging his reputation then 1855 would surely be dead.

If Meyers is reluctant to continue to shore up 1855 then this may explain why on 23rd November 2011 de Chalon announced the setting up of ‘un Club Actionnaires’. 1855 Junk Club would be a more appropriate name as the shares currently stand at 0.07€ each having once been at 4.40€ a share.

Should Meyers now stop pouring cash into 1855 it is hard to see how de Chalon will find enough ‘pigeons’ (patsies) to keep the show on the road.

The long running, scandalous saga of 1855 indicates that l’ancien regime is still in fine fettle and that the events of 1789 were either illusionary or had a short-term effect. The well-connected Emeric Sauty de Chalon has been given carte blanche to wallet-thin many of his customers with no apparent obligation to supply wine.

Recently the Répression des Fraudes told a frustrated customer of 1855 that there was no fraud as the wines had been ordered – like saying it’s only murder if the dagger is still plunged into victim’s heart. Contrast the leniency shown to Emeric Sauty de Chalon and his creation with the treatment meted out to vignerons who make a mistake on one of the myriad forms they have to fill in.

If it wasn’t for Emeric Sauty de Chalon’s connections would 1855 have been accepted as a probationary member of La FEVAD (Fédération e-commerce et vente à distance)? Wouldn’t La FEVAD rather have used 1855.con as a graphic illustration of worst e-commerce practice?

If it wasn’t for Emeric Sauty de Chalon’s connections would the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux and the Le Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855 have sat on their hands? Who despite their bulging files on 1855 are   afraid to say anything about this scandal?

Thank goodness for people like Florence Cathiard and David Ornon (Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte) and Jean-Charles Cazes (Château Lynch-Bages) who are prepared to speak out.  

If it wasn’t for Emeric Sauty de Chalon’s connections wouldn’t 1855 have been closed ‘in the public interest’ years ago?

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  10 Rue des Moulins – the house of broken promises and HQ of 1855

  'Management' and leading shareholders of 1855 

Emeric Sauty de Chalon and Fabien Hyon are the senior 'management' team of 1855 (1855.com, 1855.con). Thierry Maincent was an administrateur and one of the directeurs généraux délégués until he resigned his posts for personal and health reasons on 30th September 2010. Businessman Jean-Pierre Meyers, who is on the boards of L'Oréal and Nestlé, is a long-term shareholder of 1855.  Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, the daughter of L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt and wife of Jean-Pierre, is also an investor in 1855. 

  Jim