THE CONSORTIUM OF BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO BRINGS AN ACTION AGAINST GIANFRANCO SOLDERA

The Consortium of Brunello di Montalcino, considering the statements made by Gianfranco Soldera and published by the Corriere della Sera of 26^th March last to be highly injurious, has decided to bring an action for libel against Mr Soldera. The suit, which will be filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Milan, refers to the part of the interview given by the owner of the Case Basse Estate where he defined the proposal of the Consortium to give him the “wine of solidarity”, with a different bottle and label, after an employee had drained the contents of his barrels down the drain, as “inadmissible and offensive, a fraud to the consumers”.

As underlined by Fabrizio Bindocci, Chairman of the Consortium, “we consider the lawsuit a necessary course of action to safeguard the image of the winemakers, of Brunello wine and of the entire territory of Montalcino. We feel deeply offended and damaged by these and other negative statements on the Consortium and the winemakers made by Mr Soldera following the event that struck him. Our decision was made as a result of the request voiced in unison by the winemakers to take a strong measure against someone who offends the reputation and work of each one of them. This is the only reason behind our decision, and we are very firm in underlining it, once and for all”.

Pursuant to the lawsuit, the Board of the Consortium has also decided to immediately expel Gianfranco Soldera, as set forth in the articles of association. Despite his being a resigning member, Mr Soldera would have been part of the Consortium until 2015 – but his highly improper behaviour has determined the incompatibility of his participation in the Consortium.

Focusing on the motivation of the lawsuit, Chairman Bindocci wishes to stress “how incomprehensible it is to label as fraud a gesture that Mr Soldera himself, in a press release, had ‘highly appreciated’ ”. The entire phrase spoken by Gianfranco Soldera is: “They wanted to give me their wine: I would have had to bottle it as if it were my own, not knowing where it came from. An inadmissible and offensive proposal, a real fraud to the consumers”. The Consortium stresses that its proposal was meant as a symbolic gesture of solidarity, given that his wine estate had suffered great damage due to the act of vandalism.

“We consider it important to point out,” concludes Chairman Bindocci “that the statement reported by Corriere della Sera, as well as the tone adopted by him and his groundless inferences made during that interview, have considerably damaged the image of Brunello and its territory, one of Italy’s expressions of excellence worldwide”.