The Case of Fine Italian Wine Down the Drain
Sangiovese grapes in a vineyard of Montalcino, Italy (Photo: Wiki)
This Geo Quiz has a rich, dark red character with a complex taste.
No seriously, police in Italy have a new and puzzling case to investigate.
$16 million worth of red wine, or enough to fill about 80,000 bottles has been sabotaged.
The wine is among Italy’s most celebrated varieties.
We’re looking for the name of the small hilly town in Tuscany where the crime went down.
It’s about 70 miles south of Florence where the warm air and dry soil is perfect for growing a special variety of the Sangiovese grape.
Can you name this Tuscan village?
Scene of the crime, Montalcino vineyard (Photo: Wiki)
We get the facts of the case from Carla Capalbo who lives in Italy and writes about Italian wine and food.
She describes the incident that occurred in Montalcino, a small hill town in central Italy’s grape growing region that has shocked wine lovers both for the loss of the great wine and for wiping out one of the world’s extraordinary vintners.
UPDATE on December 19, 2012: There’s been a potential break in the case! Police have named a disgruntled former employee of the winery as a suspect. His name is Andrea di Gisi, and officials say he was miffed over an previous altercation with the winery owner. They also say di Gisi was mad because an apartment on the estate was given to another employee instead of him. Apparently, di Gisi has been a suspect from the beginning. His cell phone had been tapped by authorities, who overheard him talking about washing wine out of his clothes. Di Gisi’s jeans have been sent to lab in Rome where they will be tested for the presence of polyphenols, which are found in red wines.
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