PRESS RELEASE
JAMIN PORTOFINO SRL RESPONDS TO THE ACCUSATIONS REPORTED BY SOME NEWSPAPER HEADLINES TO CORRECTION WHAT WAS DISTRIBUTED BY SOURCES FROM WHICH UNRELIABLE INFORMATION HAS BEEN RECEIVED.
Santa Margherita Ligure – March 31, 2021 -
The Italian company Jamin Portofino Srl based in Santa Margherita Ligure (GE) denies the news, spread in recent days by some media, of the alleged "underwater sparkling wine theft" carried out by "a French company".
Specifically, we intend to bring to public attention some newspaper headlines declaring the beginning of a non-existent war between the Municipality of Portofino and the “French company”, blaming it not only for having stolen the submarine wine from an Italian company in Sestri Levante, but also for having copied the same production process.
In accordance with what we read in the first article published in Secolo XIX on March 23, 2021, we intend to strongly contest the points that would see our company as the protagonist (i.e. "the French" as the various newspaper headlines call us) in the "war" against the Municipality of Portofino. First of all, it is false that there is a "war".
Nor, even less, a dispute between French companies and Italian companies.2 Jamin Portofino is a 100% Italian company, registered in the Italian business register in the special section of innovative scientific start-ups with activities as per the Chamber of Commerce certificate (the company's purpose is the development, production and marketing of innovative products or services with high technological value in the food sector and more specifically the study and development of underwater cellaring techniques for wine and food products in general).
Therefore, no French company has taken over “stealing the underwater wine” of the Portofino bay – “triggering a “war with the Municipality” – as can be read in the headline that is neither continent nor based on objective data of the article in the aforementioned newspaper.
The motion moved by MP Viviani states that the wines would reach evolution in the Portofino marine protected area at -52 meters, with the same procedure that made the wine produced by the Sestri Levante agricultural company known in Italy and abroad.
The company Jamin Portofino Srl works on the maturation of wines in glass in isobaric conditions and operates an underwater cellar in the protected bay of Portofino. The agricultural company of Sestri Levante works on the “prise de spuma” and operates on the seabed of Sestri Levante and not as tendentiously induced by the DOC on the seabed of Portofino.
These are two completely different techniques, products, company types and above all methods. In addition, the world of underwater wine today features about 40 operators who use underwater cellaring in various different formulas and methods.
The international success of the technique developed by Jamin Portofino Srl is supported by the recognition received at one of the most important events in the Italian and international wine scene, the Merano Wine Festival which in 2019 elected Jamin Portofino Srl as an innovative start-up “High Light of champagne”.
Our Italian company that operates in underwater cellars in Portofino, has made known to the whole world that our cellaring model applied to champagne as a technological innovation, is an excellence in the field of research, in scientific innovation and is also of the same Italian Style that it represents, conferring prestige not only to the territory in which it is located, but also to the institution where the cellaring is carried out (Portofino Marine Protected Area).
With regard to the accusation on the label in which the word Portofino appears, allegedly erroneous according to the parliamentary question mentioned above, we would like to underline that the label of the Champagne AOP, reports the word “Portofino”, only, and within the terms of the law on the back label, as per the promotion agreement in force, in which the Design/Logo of the Marine Protected Area is reported for the collaboration in the study.
The alleged "French" company, namely the Italian Jamin Portofino Srl, composed of Italian subjects and totally self-financed, operates within the Ligurian and therefore Italian territory; to clarify, in achieving its corporate purpose (experimentation and study of innovative techniques and related marketing) it commissioned the production of a champagne (the first wine in history with bubbles) to experiment and validate the effects of marine cellaring on champagne, collaborating first and foremost with the territory also in order to promote scientific research and Italian ingenuity.
For this purpose, Jamin Portofino Srl is authorized by means of a 2016 State concession to operate in the marine area of Portofino for the underwater cellaring of wines in general.
There are no actions by French people, nor any illegitimate actions. There is no “consumer deception” on the label, because the wording is clear, it reports the words Champagne AOP as required by the denomination that governs it.
It is also believed to be clear that the Portofino or Golfo del Tigullio DOC, which can be abbreviated without having to be Portofino Doc, represents a denomination which, although well-known, has nothing to do with the denomination and notoriety of the Champagne AOP, a product used for the experimentation and study process and marketed by Jamin Portofino srl.
Specifically, it is therefore emphasized that a Champagne AOP is a different product from a Spumante Portofino Doc by nature, by style, by provenance, but this has nothing to do with the underwater cellaring techniques. Instead, it is considered necessary to contest the inaccuracies regarding the alleged or supposed irregularities of the cellaring by JAMIN PORTOFINO SRL.
Regarding the obsolescence of the "cage" which, according to inaccurate information, is subject to rust, we underline that the cage in question is encapsulated precisely to avoid this risk.
Regarding the equally unfounded and tendentious information on the "risk of health due to possible infiltrations" and therefore referred to as dangers of permeability to sea water, it is important to clarify that since the internal pressure of champagne is approximately 6 bar (three times the pressure of a car tyre) it is not possible for any liquid or gaseous element to penetrate inside the Vinous product itself.
Finally and in reference to the previous paragraph, Jamin Portofino srl would like to clarify that the encapsulation mentioned in the parliamentary question and reported by newspapers as a “type of cork” is instead a further capsule to protect the original cork (cork) which, through its density and porosity, protects the cork and the contents from contamination and/or access of organic microorganisms.
We invite you to contact us for further information regarding what we have declared in this press release. We avail ourselves of the right of reply to clarify exhaustively and civilly declarations that perhaps lack the necessary details and therefore do not correspond to the operational reality of the company Jamin Portofino Srl.