Yesterday, coming back from Vinitaly where the issue of Brunello was the leitmotif (at least for what the media where concerned), I was about to publish an article with a strong title, like “Idiocy in Montalcino”. I was wondering whiy a bunch of sane people would plant Merlot and then go through all the bureaucracy to make it pass as Sangiovese. To me it was like one’s own head under the axe. It would have been much simpler, wanting to commit a fraud, to buy some bulk wine and then to get it into the cellar with a tank lorry, maybe during the night. It seems that this system is much harder to discover. But there is something quite strange in all this situation, because the involved estates are not those of the peasant Beppe or Gosto, but are important estates, that further than being owned by clever and commercilly far-sighted people, also employ the best technicians and the best managers. So I grabbed the phone and I’ve called my personal “source”. I exposed him my doubts and he managed to make me see the events from a completely different angle.
If a producer has some financial trouble, one of the safes way to grant himself a loan from a bank is to count on his vineyards. One hectare of Brunello is worth between 350000 and 400000 Euros, whilst one of Sant’Antimo 7 or 8 times less. Maybe this is why some of the hectares planted with Merlot were never converted to Sant’Antimo: to avoid a dramatic decrease in the finances of the estate, that would have resulted in the impossibility of getting a loan. All this of course was done keeping the fingers crossed and hoping that the controls would arrive late. The later the better.
Unfortunately the controls have arrived and the situation precipitated. Seen this way all the issue makes sense, and makes even more sense the meeting that the Montalcino’s producer will have tomorrow (April 9th), in which they will discuss whether to try to change the DOCG law.
Pay attention: without necessarily getting to the “foolishly calculated” risk just exposed, it seems that many producers are indeed in financial trouble and are “exposed” with the banks. That is why it would be very useful to them to pass a few hectares of Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon from a minor DOC to a major DOCG: because they will see the prices of this vineyards increase dramatically overnight, bringing the capitals of their estates to an acceptable level and at no cost whatsoever. Let’s see then what will happen during this meeting, and let’s hope that that wine made from sole Sangiovese grape on the hills of Montalcino won’t be the only one missing out.