"THEY MADE ME GRAY" (autovox-is-the-one)
08/31/2014 at 12:00 • Filed to: ITALIAN WINES
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"THEY MADE ME GRAY" (autovox-is-the-one)
08/31/2014 at 12:00 • Filed to: ITALIAN WINES | 0
| 5 |
Yesterday I !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to try to give my best suggestions about how to be quite sure of drinking a safe, good and honest Italian wine: the core of the suggestion was to always look for the Italian State issued numbered label on the neck of the bottle - UPDATED: it's only found on the bottles sold in Italy:
I was adding as well that a good Italian wine should always carry the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . These are two bottles I have in my home now that were bought for no more than €5-7 each, at an Italian Carrefour shopping mall. Indeed the bottle to the left is a DOC one. while the other one is DOCG:
I still stand on those declarations. Nowadays, all Italian wines that are worth drinking carry one of those initials. Those without the DOC and DOCG initials may also be safe to drink, depending on where you buy them and on your specific knowledge of wines and of winemakers, but sure they have a lesser value and can be put on the same quality level of the wine in the carton boxes, which sincerely I do not suggest.
Than there is the counterfeiting issue: the news are full of them ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), since it's so easy to fake a label and pour some cheap Tunisian wine into a beautiful bottle with the Alfa Romeo logo, and sell it abroad as " vino dalla bella Italia ". And this would be the best situation, since you could also be drinking something that's indeed a mix of flavors, water and a chemical dye. Actually, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! quotes one fact I mentioned yesterday about the worst case of wine counterfeiting we had in Italy:
A fraudulent Italian winemaker blended methanol (wood alcohol) in his low-alcohol wine in 1986; and caused the death of 23 consumers.
If I well remember, he was not actually aware of the poisonus effects of methanol on the drinkers' health (indeed ignorance is the most terrible disease), and later he took his life for that.
About this point, please note that no real Italian would ever drink a wine that's labeled "FIAT" or "Alfa Romeo", since the least that could happen to him is that he would be drowned in laughter. The only serious Italian wine with an automotive label that I'm aware of is the quite decent Lambrusco "Il Cavallino", that's bottled and sold by the homonymous !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which is on the other side of the road in front of the Ferrari factory, and once was the VIP canteen of Ferrari.
It's possible as well that some dishonest goon is selling abroad Italy some counterfeited bottles that carry a counterfeited Italian Government numbered label too, but this is one of the sad happenings of life, since it can happen as well to get a fake banknote that could put you in some legal troubles too, even if you're at no fault. The only way to minimize the risk, is to search the Internet for the registered actual, honest Italian wine makers and order their guaranteed products, and this will not collapse your wallet, should you not buy the most expensive, luxury bottles.
Yesterday, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! challenged my statements, saying in an indeed very gentle and subtle way, that I am full of shit and that a DOC and DOCG numbered label don't provide any valid guarantee, and that the world is full of not identified bottles of good Italian wine, made by poor but honest Italian winemakers, that have the same value of the DOC and DOCG labeled ones. And he said that an example of that are the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , that cannot be labeled as DOC or DOCG. Not true at all:
Because it's true that if a wine actually IS what is printed on the bottle, than it must absolutely come from one of the recognized and registered regions, otherwise IT'S NOT what it declares to be. It cannot be a Cabernet (we do not grow Cabernet in Basilicata) and it would be same as declaring that Mr. Abdullah Patel is a good, original, honest to god Englishman of British ancestry. Sure Mr. Patel speaks a good English and has the Queen's picture in his bedroom, but you cannot state that his ancestor fought the Romans at the Hadrian's Wall.
Eventually, indeed in some cases you may actually find an honest, true to God Italian wine in a bottle that's not identified as DOC or DOCG, like it's true as well that indeed in some cases you may actually find a pretty, cheap, gentle hooker that won't pass you an STD… well, to Brian the choice and I wish him good luck.
Leadbull
> THEY MADE ME GRAY
08/31/2014 at 12:06 |
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Bad Idea Hat
> THEY MADE ME GRAY
08/31/2014 at 12:08 |
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There are so many good ways to imbibe, why we gotta fight?
Svend
> Leadbull
08/31/2014 at 13:25 |
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Hi fella.
Thanks. I have the e-mail I received from Delicatezza below.
Hi Sven,
All the wines we sell are imported directly from Italian wineries by our supplier and are legitimate wines with legitimate Italian labels. Our supplier is based in the UK and pays all alcohol duties to HMRC. We can get you their excise number on Monday if you like.
The bottle you purchased from us was imported directly from the Scrimaglio winery:
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Because wines are under 30% ABV, they will not have a red stamp duty label on the bottle that reads "HMRC Liable for Excise Duty". This is despite the fact that duty will have been paid by our supplier. The reason for this is that stamp duty labels are only affixed on 35cl or larger bottles where the ABV is 30% or more. So you will always see those stamp duty labels on retail bottles of strong spirits, for example, but never on wines.
In terms of inspection by the Italian government/authorities, wines that are specified DOCG will always have a pink numbered governmental seal on the bottle. DOC, IGT and unlabelled wines do not have any governmental seals on the bottle. Look at the following Barolo bottle as an example of a DOCG inspected by the Italian government (pink label under the cork):
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Hi Sven,
All the wines we sell are imported directly from Italian wineries by our supplier and are legitimate wines with legitimate Italian labels. Our supplier is based in the UK and pays all alcohol duties to HMRC. We can get you their excise number on Monday if you like.
The bottle you purchased from us was imported directly from the Scrimaglio winery:http://www.scrimaglio.it/fashion/EN/alfa/alfa.php#" data-attr="http://www.scrimaglio.it/fashion/EN/alfa/alfa.php#" data-uid="inset624" data-processed="true" id="inset624" data-provider="default">http://www.scrimaglio.it/fashion/EN/alfa/alfa.php#, http://www.scrimaglio.it/EN/homepage.php" data-attr="http://www.scrimaglio.it/EN/homepage.php" data-uid="inset625" data-processed="true" id="inset625" data-provider="default">http://www.scrimaglio.it/EN/homepage.php
Because wines are under 30% ABV, they will not have a red stamp duty label on the bottle that reads "HMRC Liable for Excise Duty". This is despite the fact that duty will have been paid by our supplier. The reason for this is that stamp duty labels are only affixed on 35cl or larger bottles where the ABV is 30% or more. So you will always see those stamp duty labels on retail bottles of strong spirits, for example, but never on wines.
In terms of inspection by the Italian government/authorities, wines that are specified DOCG will always have a pink numbered governmental seal on the bottle. DOC, IGT and unlabelled wines do not have any governmental seals on the bottle. Look at the following Barolo bottle as an example of a DOCG inspected by the Italian government (pink label under the cork):
http://www.delicatezza.co.uk/collections/wine-and-prosecco/products/barolo-terre-docg-75cl" data-attr="http://www.delicatezza.co.uk/collections/wine-and-prosecco/products/barolo-terre-docg-75cl" data-uid="inset626" data-processed="true" id="inset626" data-provider="default">http://www.delicatezza.co.uk/collections/wine-and-prosecco/products/barolo-terre-docg-75cl
Let us know if you have any further questions and if want our supplier's excise number.
Thanks,
The delicatezza team
It's pretty much the same with Spanish wines also (and from what I've experienced some other parts of the world but can't remember any off the top of my head.
Some that I've tried and quite like.
I'm fortunate my store has quite a range of wines (these are just the ones from our website and invariably have twice as many in store) but there are several resellers in my city who deal with smaller vineyards and wineries.
Country[-]
With wine it's each to their own and I learned years ago not to subscribe to white wine with fish and red wine with red meat but to use them as suggestions and to drink which ever you are happiest for any given meal. In my friend's restaurant I happily drink a Pinot Grigio or a Frascati with my steak of pasta meal.
Not to be that guy, it's Hadrian's Wall. It runs through my city.
Though before it was called it's present name Carlisle, in Roman times it was called Lugavalium (from Lugavalio).
EDIT for some reason it isn't properly posting the e-mail contents.
Wine is often seen from two different views, one is 'I neither know nor care' and the other being 'I appreciate a good bottle and how it's made and tastes'. I'm the latter but often open to the ocassional oddity.
I appreciate the time you've taken to bring some knowledge of wine to Oppo and hopefully some others will appreciate it to and others who don't simply click the 'back' button without a reply.
norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback
> THEY MADE ME GRAY
08/31/2014 at 13:49 |
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Or you can just buy American wines and support American wineries.
Brian, The Life of
> THEY MADE ME GRAY
08/31/2014 at 14:58 |
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Since you called me out in this post, I'm going to respond. I would have left it alone but you chose to pick at the scab. Particularly since what you say here is patently untrue:
Yesterday,
challenged my statements, saying in an indeed very gentle and subtle way, that I am full of shit and that a DOC and DOCG numbered label don't provide any valid guarantee, and that the world is full of not identified bottles of good Italian wine, made by poor but honest Italian winemakers, that have the same value of the DOC and DOCG labeled ones. And he said that an example of that are the
and
, that cannot be labeled as DOC or DOCG. Not true at all:
First, I never even mentioned the DOC designation, only the DOCG. I never said that the DOCG designation was not a guarantee of quality; indeed I agreed with you and said quite the opposite. I also never said non-domaine varietals could not carry a DOC designation, I said they could not carry a DOCG designation. You do not get to rewrite history, Bobo.
I stand by my assertion that there are many, many excellent Italian wines that do not carry either the DOCG or the DOC designation for one very legitimate reason: vintners who behave like French Negociants may buy grapes from multiple Italian appellations to make a blend. While their end product may be world-class, such a practice is outside the Denomination of Origen and disqualifies them for the DO label, let alone the DOC or DOGC one.
For the record, should you decide to be a dick and dismiss this comment like you did yesterday, you will lose your authorship privileges for a while so you have some time to think about your behavior here.