Fake Prosecco and Pinot Grigio on the Market – Protecting Quality 2007

Thanks to the great Italian wine bloggers Aristide and Lizzy, the wine journalist, for the information necessary this article.

Italian wines are the best wines in the world. I have not tasted all the wines in the world and I am not saying that there are not some fantastic wines produced in every country. I am saying that Italy has the strictest legislation in the world designed to protect the quality of wine and the consumer from corporations who, rightly so, are only interested in making a buck. The legislation regarding alimentary and wine products allows me to say, blindly, when there are two products sitting on the table, one from the US and one from Italy, the Italian product is better. Most of the time I will be right following this assumption. This is not to say that Americans do not know how to make a great product. I have tasted some marvelous California wine. Making a good product with quality ingredients is not the most profitable way to run a company and our government does not think that alimentary quality should stand in the way of corporate profitability.

When I see events like this, in Italy, I am both disappointed that a few unscrupulous and greedy people would harm such an important Italian industry and heartened that the laws on the books actually are there to be enforced. In an operation, which began in 2005, Italian authorities have discovered fraudulent companies providing grapes and wine of unknown origin to a dozen “victims” who sold the wine on international markets. The investigation uncovered a business of 3.2 million .750 liter bottles of Prosecco and Pinot Grigio and confiscated about 1 million bottles ready to be sold.

The “victims” are:

• Banear Scarl - Treppo Grande (UD)


• Beringer - Mercatale Val di Pesa (FI)


• Gallo Vineyards - USA


• La Sociale s.u.r.l. - Brisighella (RA)


• Le Rive Az. Agricola - Ponte di Piave (TV)


• Nuova Commerciale - Ovada (AL)


• Rossetti Srl - Cerreto Guidi (FI)


• Schenk Italia Srl - Ora (BZ)


• Sektkellerei Schloss - Germania


• Sektkellerei Herres - Germania


• Terrazze della Luna - Trento


• Vedovato Mario - Trebaseleghe (PD)


• Vive Srl - Azzano X (PN)

Yes, you see correctly the names of two wines famous in the US and the promoters of the Paris Hilton Prosecco in a can. The authorities are quick to say that the “victims” were unknowingly purchasing the “two buck chuck” and selling it as two of the best white wines on the market. The Italian bloggers, as am I, are a bit more cynical. The thought process is simple,

“These companies knew what they were buying or they are totally incompetent when it comes to grapes and wine.”

Whether these companies were intentionally defrauding the consumer or incapable of telling the difference between a Prosecco grape and Petite Arvine is not important. It is important that we consumers know that when we purchase Gallo or Beringer we are not getting Prosecco or Pinot Grigio. We are buying “two buck chuck” even though it may cost $20. As the investigation proceeds we should see other names appear since the labels under which these wines were distributed has not been completely discovered.

Tags: Prosecco Pinot Grigio White Wine Italian Wine Veneto Sommelier Food and Wine Travel Italy

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Italian Honey

Raffaella loves honey. It is part of her daily routine. In this light she thinks of herself as a bear. During our first years in the US we suffered a bit, trying honey from different stores and not finding that natural product she loves so much. In Italy there are numerous types of honey. Her love for honey comes from her mother. This passion grew as she traveled to Friuli with her father and she tells of a gentile old lady who runs a store that sells only honey. This individual knew the right places in the forests of Friuli to find wild honeys of every type.

Entering the store the perfume of numerous flowers dominate the air. One would think there are fresh cut flowers every day or that the store had installed one of those air fresheners with different smells every 30 seconds. Quickly it becomes evident that this is not a marketing ploy. The perfume is from the various honeys that the store offers to the fortunate client. Yes, there are honeys with different flavors. The honey takes on flavor of the flowers in the area. There are sweet honeys, mild honeys, honeys with salts and minerals and honeys with a slightly bitter taste.

Brie with Honey Mustard and Walnuts in Filo

Honey has been cultivated since the Egyptian Empire. The Egyptians were the first to domesticate bees for a controlled production and quality. The Greeks later improved the process creating a wide variety of naturally flavored honeys. Honey was widely used by the Greeks as a sweetener for the bitter Greek wines. The Romans used honey in many desserts and as a preservative for fruits. Still today some of the original uses of honey from the Roman Empire are part of Italian cooking. Some of these include the Honey Cake and Honeyed Fruit. My favorite is the Almonds preserved in Honey.

Some of the Honeys available are:

Thousand Flowers (Millefiori) – The most widely consumed honey in Italy. It is red gold in color, simply sweet with a persistent bouquet of wild flowers. This honey will crystallize within two weeks of when it is sealed. If you find it still liquid this usually means it has been through some industrial process.

Chestnut (Castagno) – A dark colored honey with red tones. It has a slightly bitter taste with hints of citrus. It is rich in Salt and Minerals, Iron dominates, and is suggested for the elderly, those recovering from illness and athletes.

Acacia (Acacia) – A clear, hay colored honey, delicate in flavor, and high in glucose. This honey is different than any other because it will not crystallize.

Sunflower (Girasole) – Sunflower honey is one of the favorites of central Italy. Just as the flowers from which the pollen is gathered the honey has a bright yellow color. The flavor has hints of herbs that tend to diminish as the honey crystallizes.

There are also other types of honey available. Many doctors will include a honey regime when curing respiratory diseases. For the fortunate traveler pick up some of the Almonds preserved in honey or one of the honeys produced locally. They are a fantastic compliment for sharp or aged cheeses.

Tags: Italian Products Natural Foods Travel Italy

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Passion for Life – Passion in Wine

Recently Raffaella and I, along with a friend, had the opportunity to participate in the pre-opening presentation of a new Central Market. Central Market is a homegrown version of Whole Foods. Each has their strengths. We shop Whole Foods for meat and Central Market for Cheese and wine. Both stores have fresh fruit and vegetables, attempting to source locally, where possible. The presentation was done very well. It is most likely apparent that I strongly support any attempt to improve the quality of food and to bring the production of our food sources back to a local level.

As we walked through the store, danced to the Jazz band and marveled at the mimes, we met some interesting people. People passionate about their life. One such gentleman, a computer software salesman, had just started a small winery in Oregon. As we talked and he expressed his dream to create something of value, I told him of a good friend, a powerful investment banker, who, after 9/11, left his investment career and started a winery in Maryland. He felt life meant more than just accumulating numbers in a bank account. He and his family wanted more. His winery is successful. He produces a quality wine sold only in local restaurants.

This gentleman asked me what I thought of his idea. I tried to express what I had learned from the family producers in Italy. I encouraged him not to try to compete with the Gallo or Yellow Tail type producers. Their model will always be the McDonald’s concept. The same thing every year, lower the quality to produce consistency at a cheap price. A newcomer cannot compete in this market.

Wine is a combination of good land, a good growing season, knowledge, and a tremendous passion. I suggested he forget the industrial production methods, risk the wine clouding a bit, take more time, and always work for the best quality he can produce. In this way he acquire a following, even in the years when the weather is not favorable. Most importantly he has to love what he is doing. Each harvest is a new child to be nurtured, followed with fatherly attention, and loved for its natural characteristics.

This morning Italian Wine Guy wrote about a couple of passionate winemakers from Veneto. Without knowing them personally I can see their passion in the photographs, I understand their way of life and what makes them tick. They are the artisans, the masters. They are not the most profitable of wineries, nor the most famous, but they, or should I say their grandchildren, will be there, producing quality wines, long after the Yellow Tail and Gallo have been forgotten.

Quality of life is about balance. Good food, good wine and good friends are what make us happy. They are our memories, the things we hold on to in difficult times. Quality of life is passion for who you are and what you do. Good wine, which cannot be rated on some arbitrary wine spectator scale, is a compliment to a balanced life. Are you doing what you are passionate about?


Tags: Whole Foods Food and Wine Central Market US Wineries Quality Foods Wine Travel Italy

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Chips Free Wine – Save the Wine!

In the effort to produce wine faster and at a lower cost the wine industry across the world has introduced wood chips into the wine instead of aging the wine in barrels, as the tradition would expect. The European Union has ratified this process and the US does not really care. All that is important is that the companies make more money, the quality of wine is not important, only drunks drink wine.

Italy is the only country, I am aware of, to have taken steps to guarantee quality and not on all products. The Italian Government passed a law prohibiting the use of wood chips in DOC and DOCG wines. It allows the use of chips, even without specific labeling, in IGT and table wines. What does this mean? Italian DOC and DOCG wines will be better than any other wine in the world, even the crummy ones. So look for your Italian DOC or DOCG wine. Other Italian wines using traditional methods will most likely show it on the label. If you do not see the mark on an IGT or table wine, be assured that they are trying to cut corners and the wine will not be what it should be.

Wine is passion. You cannot cut corners. You need time, quality ingredients and experience. Wine is balance. Wine compliments food and is not overbearing. Wine does not have to be expensive to be good. It does have to be nurtured, cared for, just like a small child. The return can be a work of art, an explosion of flavor, or a delicate breeze of subtleties. Great producers produce wine because they are artists, not because they want to give a financial return to investors.

I also suggest that you write your favorite winery outside of Italy, whether it be the US or Australia and let them know that you care how your wine was produced. If you do not most likely in a few seasons your favorite wine will be produced with liquid wood.

Tags: Italian Wine Sommelier Food and Wine Travel Italy

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Italy passes No Wood Chips in Wine Law

Italy has once again moved to protect itself from Cowboy Capitalism so rampant here in the US. I have written about the new processes employed by worldwide manufacturers adding Wood Chips to Wine to force the flavor of the wine. Adding chips is a precursor to pouring wood extracts directly into the wine. Needless to say, both chips and liquid flavoring reduces significantly the quality of the wine. It is like buying a Versace winter coat and finding out that the filling between that beautiful, puffy coat is actually crumpled newspaper.

US winemakers will complain that this is unfair trade practice but our government could learn something from Italy. Italy continues to grow GDP. Italy maintains high quality manufacturing and production. Italy provides fresh produce from numerous sources instead of just two mega farms. Italy’s working class is making twice the US worker, has national health insurance, six weeks paid vacation, University is free to everyone, and a functioning pension program. Companies are very careful about worker safety and their relationship with the community because in cases like Texas City some executive ends up in jail.

What is the context of this comment? Quality wins over quantity every time. Shortsighted companies will cut quality to pay less for materials and labor in an attempt to please short-term financial markets and bring home hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses. The decisions make no sense for the company and for the country in general but they do make sense for the executive management and the investment community. If one guy brings a gun to the poker game, all the players have to bring a gun otherwise they are at a disadvantage. The laws protecting quality are, in fact, banning guns in the poker game of business.

For us, the consumer, it has a different connotation. It means that we can buy Italian wines without having to spend hundreds of hours researching the producer’s processes, trying to determine if they are superficially pumping the wines to reduce quality and cost. In other words, California producers, if you do not use chips or liquid flavoring in the wine you need to say it. Put it big and bright on the label otherwise you will be again at a quality disadvantage.

An Italian Wine Blog, Aristide, has been promoting a fight to inform the consumer when a producer uses wine chips or worse liquid flavors. It seems that common sense and good business practice has won a battle with this one.

Tags: Quality Wines Wine Business Red Wine Italian Wine Fake Wine Sommelier Food and Wine Travel Italy

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Describing Wine – Without the Mystery

Wine lovers, or winos like me, often want to have an indication of what the quality of the wine will be before purchasing the wine itself. I buy books, check the Internet for other’s indications and go to the producer’s site to get their opinion of this year’s production. That is when the act of faith begins. Descriptions like “characteristic flavor”, “variations from medium and fresh to full and unctuous are obtainable”, “firm backbone”, “intense grapey aromas”, and “fat, dark and powerful” can be difficult to understand if not misleading.

I fully respect the Sommelier. Their education goes way beyond “Is this a good wine or not?” and “Which foods go with this wine?” They are professionals and their opinion should be highly regarded. Their job is to help the wine industry understand which products will be most widely accepted over time. They look at things like:

From the grape to the wine: physical characteristics
- Color
- Aroma
- Taste
Tecniche di vinificazione
- Red
- White
- Rose'
- Bubbly
Aging
- Changes in Color
- Changes in Aroma
- Changes in Taste

These are very important things if you are setting up your cellar or perhaps you work in the food industry and need to continuously source new product. This is not me, I want something I can drink now and maybe in a few years. I am not selecting my cellar as an investment instead I intend to drink everything I have so I want a description that gives me a good idea about the wine now in a way that is easy for me to understand. This is how I describe the wines on my site.

Recently Italian Wine Guy sent me a link to Micahel Bauer's Between Meals. Michael describes, very well, the context that I use when describing wines. It is easy to understand and generally a very down to earth way of looking at wines. Please let me know your thoughts on this topic.

Tags: Sommelier Food and Wine Travel Italy

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Eat Healthy to Reduce risks of Breast Cancer

We all face difficult choices at times during our lives, education, career, and family. Time is a limited resource and we have to determine which things are most important to us. Do we dedicate all our attention to our career, how important is personal time, is it better to make more money and have someone else prepare our food? Over time, as we gain experiences, our priorities may change, but every decision, every single day, has consequences.

The Mediterranean diet has found an unlikely ally. Fox News Network has just carried an interview regarding a new report on women’s health that will be published in early July. The report shows a direct link between breast cancer and obesity. It seems that the excess fat causes estrogen to be produced thus increasing the probability of breast cancer. While the merits of the study can be discussed in more details by other blogs it does indicate just how important a proper diet is.

Our lifestyle encourages us to eat out more often and when eating at home to use commercially prepared products. Tasty as they may be these products often are high in calories and lacking in substance. There are many processes that can be employed to get into better shape the basic formula is that you must take in fewer calories than the number of calories your body consumes during the day. This can be accomplished by increasing your metabolism through exercise, decreasing your caloric intake or any combination of both. I personally do not believe in the no fat or no carbohydrate crazes.

A balanced diet and an active lifestyle will surely result in a longer and more rewarding life. So pamper yourself, prepare a Bruschetta maybe followed by a Risotto or Ravioli and a nice glass of wine. Does your employer really appreciate those extra hours you put in as much as you appreciate your health? It is tremendously taxing to be a wife and mother even without an outside job. So take care of yourselves and be healthy.

Tags:Food and Wine Travel Italy

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Quality Wines – Italian always the best

I just heard an interview on CNBC. The journalist asked some “expert” about quality wines, wine as an investment and price appreciation. The so called expert spoke only about French wines. This evidences that perception is reality. In other words, since French products have several decades of penetration into the US market while Italian product distribution is only most recent, the French wines command a higher price.

France, the place where they can manipulate the wine’s alcohol content by adding sugar. France is the place where producers add methanol to increase the alcohol content. France is the place where they sell “wines” that in Italy cannot even be called wine. There are some good and great wines in France however buying a French wine is much riskier than buying an Italian wine. When you buy an Italian wine, it is wine, made from grapes, no additives.

This is good for us consumers; I personally never buy, and rarely drink, French wines, but that has a great deal to do with a love-hate relationship between the French and Italians. Give me a Sassicaia, Guado al Tasso, Tignanello, Barbaresco, Refosco, Barolo, Solaia, Aglianico di Taburno, Brunello, Roero Arneis, Prosecco or Pinot Grigio any day. If the world perceives French wines as higher quality the prices of the best wines in the world will remain contained and I am fine with that.

Tags: Food and Wine Travel Italy

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