Brunello di Montalcino Scandal
Fraud Investigations Focus on Top Tuscan Wine Producers
Producers of the top Tuscan wine, Brunello di Montalcino, are under investigation for commercial fraud.
Brunello di Montalcino. If you’re a wine lover, you’ll certainly know the name, as this rich red wine from Tuscany is probably the most celebrated in Italy. But now a scandal is threatening to dent the reputation of this most prestigious of wines.
Pure Sangiovese
By law, Brunello wine – which has prestigious DOCG status - must be made solely from Sangiovese grapes. But Italian investigators have claimed that a minority of vintners have not been producing ‘true’ Brunello, but have committed fraud by using other ‘non permitted’ grape varieties, such as Merlot, Cabernet and Sauvignon. The sale of the 2003 vintage has been blocked while investigations proceed, and 600,000 bottles of Brunello from the wine producer Castello Banfi have been impounded. On top of that, the investigators have quarantined 10 vineyards. The investigators were said to have decided that the acreage of the producers’ vineyards was not large enough to have produced the amount of true Brunello that they claimed.
Montalcino
Brunello is produced in vineyards around the picturesque Tuscan hilltown of Montalcino, to the south of Siena. It’s a popular spot on tourist itineraries and attracts wine buffs from around the world. Walk around its streets and almost every other shop seems to be a wine store. Production dates back to the 19th-century, when a wine producer began using Sangiovese grapes, then ageing the wine slowly - first in oak barrels and then in bottles. The wine can take 5 or 6 years to age. Brunello di Montalcino is now so prized that it’s ranked along with top French wines – and it’s an industry that dominates the local economy. It can ill afford this scandal.
The Vital 1%
The issue is complex. Some reports state that the producers were mixing about 1% of wine from other grapes into the Brunello deliberately. Not much perhaps – but the 100% Sangiovese is considered integral to the wine’s character and philosophy. Some claim that using these other grapes would subtly alter the flavour and make it sweeter – and so more suited to lucrative North American tastes.
The Brunello Consortium says that it finds the allegations hard to believe. They state they inspected 1,667 hectares of vineyards – between 2004 and 2007 – and found that 1% did not conform to their standards. They have said that in future they shall be testing 20-25% of Brunello each year, in order to ensure that it meets the exacting standards demanded.
Some say that a few of the ‘wrong’ grapes could simply have been present in the vineyards by accident, and that it is impossible to detect another grape variety in a proportion below 2% or 3%. However, others state that the amount of non-permitted grapes involved is far higher – perhaps 10% per bottle. Whatever the outcome, it’s certain that such a highly regarded wine can do without attention like this.
