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Brunello: no change in the rules, producers vote
October 28, 2008
By Kerin O'Keefe
Brunello di Montalcino producers have voted by a landslide to leave the wine 100% Sangiovese.
In yesterday's highly publicised assembly to decide the fate of the beleaguered wine, 96% voted to leave Brunello as it is.
'Only 4% of producers voted to change the production code,' a triumphant Franco Biondi Santi told decanter.com.
Biondi Santi was one of the most active defenders of the wine's traditional production code and over the past few months helped rally the support of the majority of Brunello makers.
Though reportedly at least one producer called for a motion to allow a 3-5% 'tolerance' level of other grapes, something which another high-end producer, Banfi, had publicly supported days before, this was effectively beaten down by the resounding 'no' to any changes in the regulations.
Brunello remains the subject of an investigation into illicit blending. Nino Calabrese, the Siena prosecutor leading the investigation, issued a press release last week outlining the gravity of the situation.
Since the investigation began in Montalcino in September 2007, 6.5m litres of suspect wine have been impounded, far more than originally estimated.
Though 1.1m litres were declassified to IGT, and about 1m litres released after laboratory analysis did not detect the presence of other wines, 4.4m litres of Brunello remain confiscated. Calabrese also confirmed that other recent vintages have been impounded, including 2004, '05, 06 and '07.
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