Brunello gets holograms to combat counterfeiting: Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona the first in italy to ExperiMent with sophisticated anti-falsification technology. system also used by european cental bank

Brunello now has a bar code like a banknote for protection against wine piratry. Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona, one of the most famous wines from Montalcino, is adopting a special hologram inserted in capsules for protection against falsifications. This is the same system used by the European Central Bank on euro banknotes. “The idea - explained Paolo Bianchini, who runs the Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona winery together with his sister - came out of the necessity to protect ourselves against forgery, as well as the desire to ensure our customers an added value by offering them a guarantee of the origins of the bottle that has been acquired”.
The sophisticated hologram adopted by Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona (www.ciaccipiccolomini.com) was created by Luxoro, an agency from the German group Kurz, the same group that supplies the holographic technology to over 150 banks worldwide (including the European Central Bank) securing banknotes and prestigious brands like Rolex and Ferrari from falsification.
A hologram with a mirrored background and multicolored writing and a logo in satined gray and a particular color combination that is difficult to imitate will now be added onto the capsules of Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello (a company that counts 40 hectares of vineyards producing 40,000 bottles of Brunello di Montalcino, 9,000 bottles of reserve Brunello, as well as several prestigious Supertuscans). The hologram is inserted into the heated capsule and is an element that is difficult to counterfeit compared to the usual band that is distributed by Safeguarding Consortiums. The hologram, which is hard to imitate due to its higher production costs, is today one of the most effective solutions in the fight against counterfeiting, rendering the packaging almost impossible to forge.
This choice to apply a hologram to bottles is the best way to safeguard and protect the contents, and guarantees consumers are sure that what they are buying is an authentic product.
The hologrammed capsules have already been put on all Brunello Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona bottles of the latest year in commerce (2001 harvest), and beginning next year this will be expanded to include all of the company’s wine products, including reserves and Rosso di Montalcino.
These hologrammed capsules represent a natural evolution of another innovative idea that Ciacci Piccolomini had experimented with for the first time in Italy in 2002: a special label with a microchip inside, similar to those that have a Sim card, which supplied an absolute guarantee of product authenticity.
“We have always believed in innovation - emphasized Paolo Bianchini - technology has, at this point, a predominant role in all of our lives, and in this case also represents an investment for the company’s image, above all because it is a moment in which we must project ourselves into the future in order to compete at an international level”.