The Territory Environmental Coordination Corps of Forest Rangers has been monitoring the entire production of the Cinque Terre D.O.C. dessert wine Sciacchetrà during the recent 2008 grape harvest.
 In the last seven years the number of local Sciacchetrà producers has more than doubled from the original 10 to the current 23. The quantity of grapes left to dry this year is equal to that of 2006 but 10,000 kilos less than that of 2007 when there was the largest quantity in seven years. The inspections by the State Corps of Forest Rangers do not include private consumption producers, therefore it is suggested to only purchase Sciacchetrà with labelling that includes the writing D.O.C, the name and place of bottling to avoid any possible fraud.
The data provided by the Corps of State Forest Rangers regarding the monitoring of the 2008 grape harvest detail the censoring of 12.000 units, the measuring of more than 4.600 parcels subdivided over 340 companies with 177 visits to cellars. This data concerns the entire production of the Cinque Terre D.O.C. raisin wine Sciacchetrà with the aim of quantifying the annual production of grapes and wine and the control of the respective production declarations.
Percentage of new production
The raisin wine produced in the Cinque Terre from the Bosco, Vermentino and Albarola grape cannot be consumed before the 1st of November of the year following the harvest. This allows Forest Rangers to verify the actual compatibility of the yield between the dried grapes and the wine produced. They can directly compare the quantity of wine produced and in stock in the cellars with the quantity of grapes dried the previous year from which it was extracted. The wine production that will become the Cinque Terre 2007 Sciacchetrà calculated on the grapes dried should correspond to an average yield of 33%, an amount consistent with the product specifications.
The Census Method
The controls on the Sciacchetrà producers take place each year to ensure the Ministerial Decree that regulates the production of the Denomination of Controlled Origin wine “Cinque Terre Sciacchetrà” is respected.
«The corps of the State Forest Rangers aim not only to prevent but also control any possible fraud in this territory. They methodically check each step of the production process, from cultivation to placing the product on the market, from the types of vines admitted to the quality of the grapes and wine ” states Silvia Olivari, vice commissioner and assistant territorial coordinator of the Corps of Forest Rangers in the Cinque Terre. “ The Forest Rangers also take part in the collection of wine samples for analysis and submission to the Sampling Committee to assure that the wine conforms to the requirements of the D.O.C. labelling ».
Since the National Park was founded over 8 years ago, the Territorial Environmental Coordination Corps of Forest Rangers have been surveying the vineyards in the Cinque Terre with satellite technology. They measure and control with extreme precision that only Bosco, Albarola and Vermentino vines and grapes are used. The Rangers are able to quantify the bunches of grapes placed to dry and the wine that is yielded from them as well as checking all commercial documents presented. Further to inspecting the companies and places in which the grapes are left to dry, the Forest Rangers measure on site the meterage of the vineyards actually cultivated and registered by Sciacchetrà viticulturists. In doing so they avoid the possibility of other grapes being declared as product of the D.O.C. Cinque Terre vineyards.
Patrizia Spora
19 November 2008
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Agenzia Stampa
