Comments on: Ezio Rivella: “80% of Brunello was not pure Sangiovese.”

By: Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino: of vintages and varietals | TheWineBlog Wine

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:12:47 +0000

[...] of the single varietal restriction at this viticultural latitude is demonstrated by the fact, documented by Jeremy Parzen, that according to the president of the Brunello consortium Ezio Rivella 80% of [...]

By: Gary "Iron" Chevsky

Gary "Iron" Chevsky — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:09:42 +0000

Jeremy, what are the grapes they are adding to Sangiovese Grosso? Are those principally international or native? Can we realistically start calling the 80% “contaminated” Brunellos “super-Tuscans”? (which are obviously tremendously successful internationally)

By: maurizio fava

maurizio fava — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:20:19 +0000

Barolo and Barbaresco can’t be “unoaky”, of course.
The law doesn’t say whether tho oak has to be a barrique, or another larger “botte di rovere”.
They also must be 100% made from nebbiolo grapes.
Tradition is a word with different means everywhere in the world.
Tradition in Langhe Barolo, and in Gavi white wine, goes back 150 years ago.
Brunellos are younger, as they start to produce them many decades later by sangiovese 100%.
But the real strange problem is that international buyers are always looking for ruby colour, softness and mellow taste even for these great, traditional light-red and tannic wines.
This is the real problem: often the producers are not so strong, and intelligent, to say “NO, you can’t get a real nebbiolo, or a real sangiovese with colour and taste of merlot”
mr rivella is exactly this: a sales & marketing man, looking after his buyers, and their money.

By: Xinomavro

Xinomavro — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:22:26 +0000

Sad thing, though someone had the balls to spill what was i guess known but no one talked.

This happens & I think it will continue to happen if we want to make these easy accessable, technically well-made, global wines. Let the terroir shine…….
Mayby in Piedmont they don’t add another grape but they managed to create these oaky “Barolos & Barbarescos” that are not what they are suppose to be. Thank got Bartolo Mascarello and a couple of others keep the spirit high.

The trye believe is that a WINE at its best should be a GENUINE reflection of the soil, the region, the varietal(s), as well the traditions of winemaking that have been used for many years with in these regions. (genuine is a key word here)

No make up wines, no silicon, not over-oaking, purity and love

By: Do Bianchi

Do Bianchi — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:03:45 +0000

@Carlo sono contento che il mio umorismo pseudo-toscano sia una cosa gradita! ;-)

Scherzi a parte, mi congratulo con te per le interviste e condivido il tuo parere che le “rivellazioni” sono scioccanti, anzi, direi allucinanti…

By: Do Bianchi

Do Bianchi — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:01:08 +0000

thanks for all the thoughtful comments, everyone… I’m not sure what Rivella is up to now but you can bet that I’m going to find out! Heading to Tuscany soon…

By: Wine blogs you should and can’t read react to Brunello “rivellation” « Do Bianchi

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:34:52 +0000

[...] me a post on Jancis’s blog by British wine writer Monty Waldin (above), who commented on the Rivellation that “80% of Brunello was not pure Sangiovese.” By saying that most pre-2008 Brunello was fraudulently blended, Dott. Rivella implicitly accepts [...]

By: bags

bags — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:14:01 +0000

Of course, anyone who wants eventually to allow for other grapes with impunity would say this, whether true or false: he is claiming that Brunello has been a successful “brand” and no one seems to have complained about the contamination (because it sells), so, therefore, this must be a “better” formula. Italy is starved for revenue, so the argument will prevail. Maybe the best that could be hoped for would be a separate designation of “Brunello IGT” which would combine two highly successful Italian branding labels.

By: Mattie Bamman

Mattie Bamman — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:13:57 +0000

Thanks for this post. The news is new to me, but not surprising in the least. Nice coverage.

By: Carlo Macchi

Carlo Macchi — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:40:25 +0000

Ciao Jeremy,
in realtà, dal punto di vista della regia credo di essere un incrocio tra Fellini ed Antonioni. Quindi mi vorrei chiamare “Felloni”.
Scherzi a parte, grazie per le tue parole e la tua traduzione. Credo che quanto ha detto Rivella sia importante e per certi versi scioccante. Dato che nessuno lo ha costretto a dirlo sono convinto che lo abbia detto per attirare l’attenzione nuovamente su Montalcino e cercare di far capire che le cose sono cambiate (se poi il cambiamento sia vero o no….)
grazie ancora
Carlo