Twenty-five members of the Italian military police have qualified as sommeliers in order to combat fraud in the industry.
Elite officers of the Carabinieri del Nac (anti-fraud squad), recently passed exams given by the Italian Sommeliers Association, based in Rome.
The combat-ready sommeliers will use their new-found expertise as part of their existing responsibilities for Italy's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. They will also conduct special investigations and act as liaisons to the European Commission's Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
'The opportunities to perpetrate fraud are limited only by man's imagination,' said Colonel Pasquale Muggeo, one of the wine-trained officers. 'What we have learned will enable us to offer stronger support to the wine industry.'
Muggeo said their training had already helped the policemen in uncovering a ring of Brunello and Barbaresco counterfeiters operating in Germany and Denmark.
He confirmed that although they might be disguised as civilians in order to carry out their investigations, the teams would be armed, as usual for military police.
Muggeo discounted the suggestion that teams of Carabinieri would pose as sommeliers.
'The ability to remain lucid is at the core of every undercover activity, without exception,' he said. 'We do not drink on the job.'
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What a fabulous story! As I'm sure you know, there is an old Italian joke which runs: "why do carabinieri go round in pairs?" - the answer being: "because one can read and one can write". A third carabiniere apparently, is sometimes necessary "to control the other two dangerous intellectuals". The addition of the fourth carabiniere / sommelier is a poser. What's he for? Or is it just that the favourite Italian national subject of conversation is food and drink, and they want shine in gastronomic debates?
Jane E Clifton, London, UK
This surely ratchets up the sense of the world of wine.
I am sure that France and Germany will not take this cellaristic slap in the face lying down. Imagine what will soon evolve with the police forces of Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary -- all of Europe, to keep abreast of the times.
Police wine competitions will become the event of the future. Probably leading to a world-wide Sommelier Olympiad with oh-so-many classes of competition...glass swirling, palate cleansing & rinsing, and then top-of-the-line spitting, which will
quickly eclipse the French waiter races of Bastille Day festivities.
Bob Rohden, Chicago, USA
Sounds like the movie Rush (www.imdb.com/title/tt0102820/) meets the wine world...
Jane E Clifton: I have to tell you that cop/carabineri jokes are quite ubiquitous across the map...
Bob Rohden: I Love it! Tactical shooting competitions followed by comparative wine tasting at police conventions! Then, join us for a seminar on: "Home made explosives of the future"
Arthur Z. Przebinda, redwinebuzz.com
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What a fabulous story! As I'm sure you know, there is an old Italian joke which runs: "why do carabinieri go round in pairs?" - the answer being: "because one can read and one can write". A third carabiniere apparently, is sometimes necessary "to control the other two dangerous intellectuals". The addition of the fourth carabiniere / sommelier is a poser. What's he for? Or is it just that the favourite Italian national subject of conversation is food and drink, and they want shine in gastronomic debates?
