The top Tuscan wine producer was in the eye of the storm earlier this year as the authorities suspected it was mixing other grapes like Cabernet to make the wine more powerful and bolder for the US market which is its primary export segment. In fact, owned by an American family, this special wine from Montalcino in Tuscany became famous internationally because of this company popularizing it in the US.
The Castello Banfi vintner said in a statement Monday that its bottles from the 2003 harvest have been released now and are back on sale.'This clearance closes the case for Castello Banfi Brunello,' said Cristina Mariani-May, owner of Castello Banfi, adding 'our Brunello has been liberated.'
The 600,000 bottles of the 2003 vintage were seized in April because Italian magistrates alleged that there seemed to be more production than that authorized. The US had also refused to allow the wines to enter. The controversy was resolved a couple of months ago when the Italians had promised to conduct the requisite tests on the shipments to the US.
The news reports had suggested that investigators calculated that the land dedicated to Brunello could not have yielded as many bottles as it did without the wine being mixed with another variety of grape.
Siena investigators, under whom the Montalcino region falls were not immediately available for confirmation Monday according to the report published by IHT. So far, no wines have been found breaking the law.
Brunello di Montalcino is fast gaining popularity in India because of its quality and the fact that it compares very well with the top wines of Bordeaux and has some snob appeal. The younger cousin Rosso di Montalcino is also gaining in popularity with all the established importers and those dealing with quality Italian wines scrambling to find a good Brunello producer to import from. |