Despite Verona's sunny weather in early April, Vinitaly 2008 will be remembered for its dark and stormy atmosphere. Rumours of illegal blending and wine adulteration ran rife during the landmark wine event, placing Italian producers and the nation's authorities in the hot seat, as the eyes of the global wine trade focussed on Verona.

The buzz on the ground was that a number of Brunello's leading producers were being investigated for doctoring their 2003 Brunellos.

Accusations were made that wines from Southern Italy (Puglia) had been used to boost blends.

There were also claims that small quantities of merlot and/or cabernet sauvignon had been added to some 2003 Brunellos, a practise forbidden by the region's strict Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita regulations, which state that Brunello must be made from 100pc sangiovese.

Italian press reports were quick to state that 13 wineries were being questioned by Italian authorities and wine produced by four of the big names – Castelgiocondo owned by Marchesi de' Frescobaldi, Pian delle Vigne owned by Antinori, Castello Banfi and Tenuta di Argiano – had already been sequestered.

Simultaneously, but unrelated, gossip spread that 70 million litres of wine was in the process of being confiscated across Italy, with suspicion that it contained potential lethal additives.

* Extract from a full report in the June issue of GrapeGrowers and Vignerons magazine.