From “Quantity or Quality?”, Franco Ziliani’s article on Amarone and Valpolicella in the current issue of Decanter.

Back in the mid-1980s, even the most diehard optimist could never have imagined that less than 25 years later, Amarone della Valpolicella would have emerged as one of the trendiest wines on the Italian wine scene. Or that the Valpolicella zone would have shaken itself free from its state of semi-crisis and emerged from its provincial viticultural doldrums. Production of Amarone (and Recioto) rose from 1.5 million bottles in 1997 to almost 5 million in 2003 and 5.7 million in 2004. Estimates for the 2006 vintage are in the 8 million range, and for 2007 the estimated figure is in excess of 10 million bottles. Huge numbers of grapes have been put onto drying mats: the 8.2 million kilograms dried in 1997 had risen to a whopping 25.7 million just 10 years later. Those semi-dried grapes are a very large chunk of the 70 million kilos of grapes produced overall in Valpolicella. Far too many, in the eyes of some.

Click here to read the entire article.

The February 2009 issue of Decanter includes an “Italy” supplement, featuring articles on 2004 Barolo by Tom Maresca and Campanian whites by VinoWire contributor Tom Hyland.

Much has been written about Italian viticulture’s substantive growth in volume and international sales. See, for example, Alder Yarrow’s post American and Italian Wine: Movin’ on Up!, published late last month and a fascinating post published by Alfonso Cevola, Italian Wine 2008 — Report from Flyover Country, published yesterday and culled from data collected by one of the largest distributors of fine wine in the U.S.

On Wednesday, the French weekly L’Express published an editorial entitled, Italy makes more wine than France… but not better wine. According to author Philippe Bidalon, France produced 485 million 12-bottle cases in 2008 while Italy produced 552 million. He attributes this to the fact that his transalpine cousins enjoyed a bumper crop in 08 while climatic “capriciousness” was the reason behind a light harvest in his homeland.

“What is important for French viticulture,” he opines, “is not to produce an infinite amount of beverages that it cannot sell — as our Latin [Italian] competitors do — but rather to make the most of the richness and diversity offered by its terroirs. It is safe to say that today Italy produces more table wines of little interest and that France makes more and more quality wines.” (translation by VinoWire)

Thou doth protest too much, methinks, Philippe. Your grapes are not sour, they’re just unripe.*

— Jeremy Parzen

* See the “Unripe versus sour” note in this Wikipedia entry.

The following essay was published in Italian Weds., January 7, 2009, at I numeri del vino. It has been translated here by the editors of VinoWire.

What does the Brunello affair teach us?

By Angelo Gaja

Unlike France, Italy specifies the percentages of each authorized grape variety that can be employed in the production of every DOC and DOCG. There is an entire series of provisions that have proven to be ineffective in preventing violation of these laws and in combating commercial fraud: analysis of the wine during cask aging, sensory evaluation, monitoring of a plethora of registries, the application of government seals and authenticity labeling, etc.

In the current investigation in Montalcino, the Siena prosecutor has recognized as valid the analysis method employed by Donato Lanati and the Enosis Laboratory: using this method, Lanati is able to ascertain the presence of grapes other than 100% Sangiovese in wines that have been impounded. Never before has this type of analysis been used by monitoring agencies to ascertain the varietal conformity of a wine

The same analysis method can also be used to ascertain whether or not percentages have been illegally stretched in DOC and DOCG wines in which 15% of other grape varieties are permitted.

The application of this analysis method on a large scale would create no small number of changes: before bottlers complete their bulk purchase of a wine, they would have the opportunity to verify its conformity to appellation regulations; the current farraginous monitoring system for DOC and DOCG wines would be simplified and improved; it would finally become possible to monitor the wines “downstream,” in other words, sample bottles could be taken directly from the market (and no one would have to wonder endlessly how in the world bottles of Chianti, Piedmont Barbera, and Nero d’Avola are sold to the public at obscenely low prices).

But another side to this story is a cause for worry: random monitoring could lead to the explosion of contention between monitoring agencies and producers; when oversight authority is transferred to Brussels [i.e., to the EU], pressure could grow to change appellation regulations believed to be too rigid; disinterest in DOC and DOCG wines could grow as estate-branded wines became more popular; the same analysis method adopted in Italy could be used by foreign laboratories to verify conformity to Italian appellation law in wines imported to their countries.

One thing is certain: with the precedent set by the Siena prosecutor, nothing can be the same for Italian DOC and DOCG wines.

Producers need to be aware of this and they need to embrace the necessary leap in quality (and price). They will need to find strength and unity in their intentions and they will need to help to find ways to make the necessary changes.

Contributor Hervé Lalau is the Secretary General of the Fédération Internationale des Journalistes et Ecrivains du Vin.

“Bordeaux wines are blend-wines. We wish to test new varietals to know if they can enhance the complexity of our wines.” Thus speaks Florian Reyne, from the Syndicat des Vins de Bordeaux (Bordeaux Wines Union). And the Syndicat has just officially asked the INAO (the French appellation system governing body) that three new whites varietals be tested (Chardonnay, Petir Manseng and Lilioriola), as well as four red ones (Syrah, Marselan, Arinanoa and… Zinfandel). Plus Chenin, for the sparkling wines.

If the regional and national committees of INAO give the green light, then four estates will vinify each new variety (150 hectolitres minimum) for 5 years. Then, if the tests are satisfactory, the use of the new grapes will be permitted in the Bordeaux regulations.

What surprises me is not so much that the French now act like real Australians and use customer-driven marketing instead of offer-driven marketing. These are hard times, you know, and grapes and tastes are easier to market than terroirs. No, what surprises me if that this move comes from the Bordeaux appellation people, and not from the new IGT’s (the new denominations with softer rules, according to the new EU regulations which will come into force in August). Also, it is somewhat pathetic to hear a spokesman of what used to pass as the wine Mecca speaking of «enhancing Bordeaux’s complexity». Does it lack complexity so much that even Bordeaux people confess it?

Another remark: why should one test anything? Is there any doubt about the adaptability of Shiraz and Chardonnay to the Bordeaux climate, when these two grapes have conquered the 5 continents of wine? To me, it rather looks like hypocrisy: “let us do it slowly, so that it can be accepted more easily.” True, back in the 1920’s, some Bordeaux estates used to add syrah from the Rhône in the bad years. And I would not bet my life that some are not still doing it today. There will always be frauds. This is no reason to change the rules for those who make superb wines, true to their terroir, with the grapes they are allowed—in this matter, I cannot but think of the Brunello situation.

Watch out! This could be like Pandora’s box. If the INAO accepts these new grapes in Bordeaux, then how could it refuse Cabernet in Burgundy, Sauvignon in Châteauneuf and Sémillon in Sancerre? And what difference will there be, then, between the famous historical terroirs (historical in the sense that it took decades or even centuries to adapt grapes to the environment, and know where they fitted best) and the modern vineyards of the New World?

— Hervé Lalau
Deputy Editor in Chief
In Vino Veritas (Belgium)