WINE, SIGFRIDO RANUCCI GUEST OF KLAUS DAVI: "CONSORTIUMS HAVE BECOME CENTERS OF POWER"

Guest of Klaus Davi, host and creator of the YouTube talk 'KlausCondicio ' , Sigfrido Ranucci spoke across the board about the wine industry and the upcoming investigations that his Report program will conduct on this topic . In the episode aired on Sunday 17 December, with interviews with experts and entrepreneurs in the sector including Lamberto Frescobaldi (President of the Italian Wine Union), Ritano Baragli (President of Cantina Sociale Colli Fiorentini), Attilio Scienza (Professor of viticulture at the University of Milan), Giovanna Lomolino and Luigi Forlin (Minos agricultural company), a real attack on the world of Italian wine can be highlighted. The episode on Rai 3 filled up with ratings, reaching almost 10% share with almost 2 million viewers connected , among the highest ever in Sunday evening prime time.

Ranucci's broadsides to the world of wine have not been lacking. Starting with the consortia: «In Italy they have an annual turnover of 14 billion euros and are still useful, but the problem is that these consortia have become real centers of power that manage to obtain favors in terms of controls », he declared Ranucci during Davi's interview.

Incidents of deception regarding the wine market now seem to be the order of the day. «The real problem that we at Report wanted to denounce concerns the use of substances that serve to correct the quality of the wine starting from the grapes . If it doesn't have the right level of sugar, today rectified must is added, then there are yeasts with the flavor of berries or citrus fruits which are used to give an aftertaste to the wine and we have also found the use of clays and animal substances such as gelatin coming from pigs or egg white. And again we found the use of oak wood chips to give the barricaded flavor to the wine in a few weeks (usually it takes years) and so on", explained Ranucci, who then closed: " In the Italian cellars we thought of finding romantic winemakers who press the must and instead there is the little chemist » . The goal of entrepreneurs, as often happens in these cases, is to reduce costs as much as possible and increase profits. « One of the most violated rules of all concerns the tendency to make table grapes into wine . It would also be possible to lengthen the Glera grapes, those used to produce Prosecco. All to lower costs. It is a widespread and well-tested phenomenon, complete with mediators and meeting place known to all winemakers. This year, due to downy mildew, the scourge of winemakers which wipes out harvests, there is a risk that the bottled wine will be added to table grapes", declared the host of Report . The risk is therefore that of going against the various regulations that regulate the world of wine production: in fact, if it were a question of destructuring the must it would be a serious sophistication of the wine product. Somehow, however, the entrepreneurs in the sector are managing: «We cannot define all these operations that I mentioned as 'adulteration' of wine if legitimate products are used. I would talk more about the manipulation of the grapes - specified the host - which is occasionally permitted by the regulations". In one of the reports from December 17th , Report also showed the importance of an expression that can be found on bottle labels. « European labeling regulations are respected, but thanks to our in-depth analysis we have learned that if we want a wine made with grapes from a specific producer we must choose the bottle with the label on which there is the words 'bottled at origin' . But raise your hand if you knew. We should then be taught to read labels", admitted Ranucci. The objective of the investigation opened by the historic Rai 3 container is absolutely not to destroy an Italian excellence. «In reality our aim is exactly the opposite – explains Ranucci to Klaus Davi – we are trying to highlight the critical issues of this world to improve a product which is an Italian excellence. And I don't think that abroad they are 'virgins' when it comes to substances for improving wine. But I believe that the abuse of these substances degrades the quality of those who instead take maximum care of all phases of wine production. In the end it doesn't matter if you produce quality grapes because then with a bit of rectified must, fruit yeasts, animal jellies and chips you can produce an alcoholic, fruity and barricaded wine." To further clarify the concept Ranucci cites another of the historic investigations conducted over the years by Report : «It's like in the case of Neapolitan pizza. When we reported that scarce foods were used to produce it, that the bottom was burned and the ovens were not cleaned, there was a rebellion in Naples. We were bitterly contested, but we showed that another way of making pizza was possible, that is, with unrefined flours, extra virgin olive oil, clean or gas ovens. From there, contemporary pizza was born which brought Neapolitan pizza chefs back to the world. And in the end it was they themselves who recognized a decisive role in the Report investigation", confessed the journalist. Returning to the wine question, another of the problems in current production is that we now tend to focus too much on quantity rather than quality: «Controlling all the smart people in this world is impossible. And there were some anomalies in the management of the fraud suppression office. However, I believe that the problem is cultural - Sigfrido Ranucci pointed out to Klaus Davi - We produce too much wine. With new treatment methods you don't even throw away a bad grape. We need to go back to focusing more on quality, but we must start from the love of the land where we grow it ." Finally, the host of Report expressed his point of view on the progress of the season of the historic Rai 3 programme, which has been on the air regularly for 27 years: «We closed the year 2023 with a bang. Moving Report from Monday to Sunday was a very delicate issue, but our team was extraordinary in terms of commitment and quality. After last season, which was the longest, we were asked to bring forward the broadcast by about a month. We were ready. Without a doubt, if we had remained on Monday with this quality of services we would probably have achieved a few more share points. But let's also look at the positive sides: the Sunday evening edition has a higher specific weight and the ratings of the reruns have also increased. For weeks we have been the best information program on social media. In short, after 27 years of history, Report continues to leave its mark. This is his incredible strength", concluded Sigfrido Ranucci, turning to Klaus Davi.