Adulterated Sauvignon and other nonsense

On September 10, the Trieste daily Il Piccolo published an in-depth article by Luana de Francisco, a link for which you will find below, and I recommend you read in full for the sake of clarity.

Sauvignon Wine Fraud, Health Officials Inspect 17 Wineries in Collio and Colli Orientali

Carabinieri health inspectors carry out a raid on orders of the Udine prosecutor’s office. Among the 17 wineries searched in the area of Collio and Colli Orientali del Friuli were some well-known and best-selling producers.

“UDINE. He dreamed of making history as the inventor of the best and most fragrant Sauvignon in the world. To find, in other words, a magic formula that would allow any producer to enhance the flavor of his wine and make it one of the best. And, in part, 39-year-old Ramon Persello from Attimis, one of the best-known bioclimatic consultants in Friuli and, above all, a brilliant chemist, appears found it. Or at least this is what the Udine Prosecutor’s Office maintains and it has order a full investigation into his experiments and the wineries, many of them famous, which – according to investigators - use his products. The probe risks upsetting the economic balance in the wine sector and not only on a regional level (read the full article here).

As the article made clear, we are just in an investigative phase (“We acted based on very serious and precise allegations – explained Udine Chief Prosecutor Antonio De Nicolo – offered to us by those who work in the same sector in an honest way. For several years now – he continued – these Sauvignon producers have been faithfully following the regulations governing the wine’s production and have realized that some of their competitors were exalting the aromas of their wines in an irregular way”).

Roberto Snidarcig has denied any involvement in any doctoring scam as have many other producers. We’ll see what happens. What must be taken into consideration when dealing with the undeniable illegal use of certain yeasts, used to make aromas more intense and pleasing and which are outlawed in Italy, is that:

1) in any case, these are no harmful to health

2) their use is allowed in countries outside the European Union

3) only a precise and accurate analysis can determine whether the accusations are true and if all the producers today dragged into the media spotlight based on an ongoing investigation have, in fact, engaged in such irregular practices or crimes.

Several of the wines of Rodaro, Gigante, Luisa, Magnas, Tiare, Butussi, Pierpaolo Pecorari and Specogna, just to name the more prestigious wineries, have been awarded prizes and international recognitions and are in all the leading guides with sometimes excellent ratings. Tiare, for example, was the Up-and-Coming Winery of the Year in Gambero Rosso’s 2015 Wines of Italy guide. To be perfectly frank, at this point I would suggest extreme caution before ruining anyone’s reputation.