Video of wine bottle shelf collapse causes stir on the Web

CCTV footage showing over six thousand bottles of wine and champagne smashing after a shelf collapsed has been doing the rounds on the Web.
In the first minute of black-and-white footage, a huge wave of wine sweeps across the floor of the Wisconsin-based off licence during opening hours. The crash sends customers and employees alike running to escape the mess.

The incident was then captured from a different angle in colour.

ABC reports that the footage was not allowed to be released until recently due to insurance purposes.

Although the footage looks genuine, questions have been raised as to the authenticity of the incident and how the 78-ft long shelf really collapsed.

However, the off-licence’s manager maintains that the five-level shelf gave way on its own as a result of its old age. The shelf system was 31-years-old when it collapsed.

[Video: Error! Man walks through glass window, smashes it]

Speaking about the incident, store manager Lori Gregoire said: “The wine was running out the front door. It was running out the back door. There was wine everywhere.

“Depending on where you were standing there was an inch or two of wine throughout the store.”

Employees from another off licence in the area are said to have spent about two weeks cleaning up the mess. It took nearly a month to restock all the bottles.

Fortunately, the shop's insurance covered everything, including new sturdier shelves.

Real or fake, it would have been a pretty costly PR stunt