In a YouTube video posted Sunday, February 27, 2011 by ITALIATV, Brunello producers association president Ezio Rivella spoke to interviewer Dario Pettinelli about the reasons behind a proposed change in the Rosso di Montalcino appellation that would allow for the use of grapes other than Sangiovese.

When the appellation was conceived, said Rivella, “attention was rightly focused on the fact that in order to maintain the standards of Brunello di Montalcino, some of the wine needed to be declassified to Rosso di Montalcino… In recent years, we have seen that this Rosso di Montalcino system was not working as it had in the past. And so we are facing this [issue by] preparing a marketing plan that will help us to relaunch Rosso di Montalcino as an independent wine — a wine that has its own personality. Because presenting the Rosso as the leftovers from Brunello was the wrong approach.”

Translation by VinoWire.