There is a scandal rustling the vines lining the charming vineyards of Tuscany -and what is a mere breeze at present may become a storm once more people discover that around 10 million litres of Tuscan wine have been adulterated.

Wines which have been adulterated are the Chianti, Toscana IGT, Brunello di Montalcino, and Rosso di Montalcino varieties.

In other words, Italian wine customers are not getting what they pay for.  The net result is that the image of Italian wine the world over will be damaged – perhaps irreparably.  Sales will fall.

What a huge shame.

Short Term Tuscans

Some Tuscan wine producers were thinking about lining their pockets in the short term.  They did not give a damn about the potential consequences to the wine industry in Italy which would result from the discovery of their sharp business practices.

Honest Italian wine producers from other Italian regions will not be at all happy with their counterparts in Tuscany.

Eric Asimov of ‘The Pour’, the New York Times wine column, has reported on the situation – and in his More Accusations of Fraud in Italy article, he gives the impression that he does not expect Italy will do enough to extricate itself from the mess.

Another noted wine expert, Italian American Alfonso Cevola of the wine blog On the Wine Trail thinks the situation is a mess.  Indeed, it was via Cevola’s informative tweets on Twitter that I heard about this disastrous situation.

Do Buy Italy Wine!

Before you go ‘Right, I’m not buying any more Italian wine’ – stop and think.  Not all Italian wine comes from Tuscany, and not all of Tuscany’s wine producers have been trying to pull a fast one on their customers either.

Try Italian wines from other regions

Use this as a good excuse to try Italian wines from other regions – Sicily and Puglia/Apulia, for example, especially if you like a full bodied wines.

Italian wine is very good – there really should be no need to resort to skulduggery to sell a few more bottles – better, more coordinated, marketing would achieve the same effect and over a longer and more productive term too.

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