White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 6adulterated with methanol, an alcoholused to raise the gradation of very lowquality wine. The industry as a wholeresponded by reinventing its ownproduction system, cutting back onquantity and focusing on quality. Manyvineyards and businesses underwent athorough overhaul to meet the criteriaof the European regulations for theDOC and DOCG certification. From1990 to 2000, in Piedmont aloneproducers of DOC and DOCG winesrose by 12.6%. An analysis of thetimeline of the attribution ofcertification reveals that in Piedmont alarge number of areas were awardedprotected status from 1990 to 1998.The same data highlights whichregions have only recently began toproduce quality wine. Whereas mostregions obtained initial certification inthe late 1960s and early 1970s, the firstcertificates in Campania and Moliseonly came in 1977 and 1983. Sicily isthe region with the largest number ofrecently protected wines because ofcertification issued in the 1990s. Thecontinual monitoring conducted bythe Guardia di Finanza (“Customs andExcise”) in collaboration with theIspettorato per il Controllo della qualità deiprodotti agroalimentari (“Inspectorate forthe quality control of farm and foodproducts”) has revealed that eventoday some wines adulterated withchemical substances are on themarket. A control operation entitledVendemmia sicura (“Safe Harvest”) inApril 2008 uncovered adulteration inaround 20 large wine producers; manyhad also been involved in themethanol scandal 20 years earlier.Although this discovery shook themarket, it did testify to theeffectiveness of the work of thecontrol bodies. Adulterating wine withharmful substances, however, onlyconcerns the Table Wine segment andtherefore the EU certified productionsare not investigated. One excellentwine on the Italian market that hasbeen investigated (2003), however, isBrunello di Montalcino, which isproduced by a number major Tuscanvineyards. They were accused of“cutting” the wine made fromSangiovese grapes (according to theDOCG regulations, Brunello shouldbe 100% Sangiovese), with 10-20%wine from grapes of French origin,such as Merlot or CabernetSauvignon. The introduction of theFrench-origin grapes was justified bythe fact it had become impossible tomeet the growing market demand andas an attempt to create a productreflecting tastes on the NorthAmerican market.WHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 151