December 11, 2008
Brunello: Extension on Quality Certificates for US Imports

The Italian Minister of Agriculture, Luca Zaia, signed a decree on Tuesday that will extend for another six months the July 3rd law that required Brunello di Montalcino wines bound for the US to be accompanied by an official certificate of quality released by the Florentine branch of the ICQ—Italian agency for quality control of food and wine products.

The extension will run until June 30, 2009 and is meant as a further guarantee on the quality of Brunello wines on the market today and to ensure that exports to the US would continue as planned. The Minister was quoted as saying “This extension is necessary because thanks to the current control procedures by the ICQ, we were able to avoid (earlier in the year) what would have been an unfair and indiscriminate blockage of all Brunello wines by US custom authorities. This extension will allow the influx of exports of this prestigious product to continue and restore trust in the Italian control system.”

The July 3, 2008 proxy from the Italian Ministry of Agriculture came as a response to the June 20th TTB circular that stated: “beginning on June 23, 2008, all importers of Brunello di Montalcino wine must have in their possession at the time of the wine’s release from CBP custody a declaration from the Government of Italy stating that the product’s vintage date and brand name meet the requirements of the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG and that the product is acceptable for sale as such in Italy.” The TTB decision came after rumors that some wine labeled as Brunello may have been produced from a blend of Sangiovese and other grape varieties and, therefore, may not have been entitled to the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG designation—rumors which sparked the decision from Italian authorities to investigate by confiscating some quantities of wine for control testing and referred by the media as the so-called “Brunello scandal”.

This latest news comes after the producers' vote in October and as a further guarantee from Italian authorities to consumers that wines labeled Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, imported and sold in the US from the second half of the year are indeed Brunello di Montalcino, thus having obtained additional quality certification.