Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/347498
42 W i n e s & V i n e s A U G U s T 2 0 1 4 The website Yesmywine, for example, offers 5,000 different wines to 6 million registered customers, selling an average of 20,000 bottles per day. Potential authenticity problems Wine is a "living" product that evolves over time, and a long period of storage in the cellar risks altering the support of authenticating elements in wine such as isotopes. A protection technology used on wine intended for storage would therefore need to be controllable several years, or even several decades, later. There is also the problem of a global stock of millions of bottles running out before the protected vintages have worked their way through. A counter- feiter might be tempted to fake an older, well-regarded vintage that was never actually protected. Still wines can be transported in bulk and bottled at the destination region. This presents a problem of reliability of local intermediaries in anti-counterfeiting mea- sures. Even sending the rolls of labels, the taggants (nanoparticles) or print files con- taining the security elements can present a risk if these elements are diverted from their intended object. Furthermore, this gives large quantities of authenticators to a potential counterfeiter, who then has the wherewithal to carry out reverse engineering. Logistics and risks of counterfeiting Protection of the logistics circuit is more a matter of track and trace. However, Turchini argues that it is possible to dis- tinguish four main weak points at the heart of the wine supply chain: • Risk of packaging and/or content coun- terfeiting (especially if an external sup- plier is used for bottling). • Risk of packaging counterfeiting de- pending on the commercial structure and distributor involved. • Risk of content counterfeiting during storage. • Risk of packaging and/or content coun- terfeiting, which may be unintentional, by distribution of counterfeit wines from other networks. Anti-counterfeiting technologies for wine Anti-counterfeiting technologies are gen- erally used by experts (customs officials, law enforcement services, private investi- gators, etc.). The end consumer is rarely involved in the authentication of the bottle he is drinking, although digitization permits a large degree of flexibility within the secure authentication system and who may or may not authenticate the product. TaMPErProofing A tamperproofing device aims to demonstrate that the prod- uct has not been modified or substituted since leaving production. However, these devices are generally easy to reproduce. Including authentication elements in these devices, where possible, brings an addi- tional level of security. SUPPORT RESEARCH & WINE INDUSTRY NEEDS THROUGH THE A M E R I C A N V I N E YA R D F O U N D AT I O N P.O. Box 5779, Napa, CA., 94581 • T: (707) 252-6911 • Email info@avf.org. Visit our Web site at www.avf.org for information on funding and current research projects Finding Solutions Through Research Drs. Walker and Cousins continue to develop rootstocks resistant to phylloxera and nematodes while displaying tolerance to abiotic stressors like drought and salts, with new selections from the Walker program now available to growers. Dr. Qian and others are studying the impact of closures with dierent oxygen transmission rates on aroma development with a focus on volatile sulfur compounds during post bottling aging. This work should help the industry make informed closure selections. For a wealth of useful viticulture and enology research and information, visit AVF.org, iv.ucdavis.edu, enologyaccess.org, or ngwi.org. The Spectral Taggant hand-held counterfeit detec- tor by Microtrace is designed to read covert (or hidden) features. t e c h n o l o g y