This has been a busy week already, and it's only Tuesday! But I wanted to share some incredible news, maybe not relevant to me per se as I rep only French wines, but very important to those who love Italian wines: in the wake of a wine-faking scandal in Italy that saw Brunello di Montalcino-labelled bottles being filled with everything from cheap Italian to cheaper Algerian to cheapest who-knows-what wines, the US Government announced today that it won't be releasing any shipments as of June 23rd unless the importer can certify that what's labelled on the bottle is actually in the bottle. In case you weren't aware, Brunello di Montalcino must be produced exclusively from Sangiovese grapes. If you mix anything else into it, it ain't Brunello, which means the price (and ergo the profits) drop substantially. Isn't labelling a fun game?
Here's the blurb, straight from the mouths of the TTB:
Purpose
This circular serves as notice that beginning on June 23, 2008, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will not release shipments of Brunello di Montalcino wine unless the importer submits to CBP a statement attesting that the wine meets the requirements of the Brunello di Montalcino Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and is acceptable for sale as such in Italy."
That's huge, and is going to cost a lot of people a lot of money. Gotta love the Italians for not moving faster to clean up their act...
Oh, and on a personal note, for those who were asking about the wine that had arrived in the US, you can find it here (with my notes too!): Wine Library Bouscade Septs Vents Syrah.
Right now I am looking like this:
Phew. That was a lot. I am pooped. OK, back to your regular scheduled blog.
Cheers!
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