Frescobaldi releases wine made by prisoners

Tuesday, 4 June, 2013
Lucy Shaw for The Drinks Business
Prominent Italian wine producer Frescobaldi has partnered with a group of prisoners on a tiny island in the Tuscan Archipelago on a white wine project.
Having planted vines on the island a number of years ago, inmates of the remote penal colony of Gorgona have made 2,700 bottles of Frescobaldi per Gorgona DOC, a Vermentino and Ansonica blend.

The vines are planted in a corner of the island to the north of Elba, where Napoleon was exiled by the British.

Despite their hard graft, the prisoners will not be allowed to drink the wine, which will instead be sold to restaurants and bars around Italy.

Thirteenth generation family member and the company’s vice president Lamberto Frescobaldi, who worked on the project, describes the wine as “intense, with a marvellous character.”


The Frescobaldi family, one of Italy’s oldest and most respected wine dynasties, were hands on throughout the project, offering the island’s 50 inmates advice on planting, picking and winemaking techniques.

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WineLand