The State - News from Aug. 28, 1987

The prestigious French winery Chateau Phelan-Segur is suing Chevron Chemical Co. in a San Francisco court for more than $57 million in damages, claiming the company supplied an insecticide that made three entire vintages smell like rotten vegetables. The suit filed against the San Francisco-based subsidiary of Chevron Corp. accuses the defendant’s Orthene 50 of rendering the 1983, 1984 and 1985 vintages so foul that they were “undrinkable and unmarketable.” Chevron officials deny that the insecticide, which is not marketed in this country, was responsible. The suit claims that the winery had to repurchase 150,000 bottles of the 1983 vintage and that 750,000 bottles over the three years were withheld from the market.