‘Sieg Heil’ Hitler wine label sparks new Nazi row in Italy

By Ben BOUCKLEY

- Last updated on GMT

The controversial wines in question, onsale in Monterosso al Mare, according to the photographer (Picture Credit: Lee Coursey/Flickr)
The controversial wines in question, onsale in Monterosso al Mare, according to the photographer (Picture Credit: Lee Coursey/Flickr)

Related tags Cabernet sauvignon

A row over a range of Italian wines still sold online with Fascist and Nazi imagery has reportedly re-erupted after tourists found them in a Rimini store.

Udinese based company Vina Lunardelli sells the ‘Führerwein’ variant alone is available for €8 in red and wine varieties including Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon.

Other labels available in the so-called 'Historical Series' include the phrase ‘Sieg Heil’, ‘Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer’, while wines with ‘Italian Army’ and ‘Communist Collection’  labels are also available.

According to The Local​, a Norwegian couple spotted the wines in coastal town of Rimini; they were withdrawn from sale by a supermarket in Verona last year after complaints.

'Cult objects among collectors'

Vina Lunardelli’s owner, who we were unable to contact for comment, reportedly told The Local​ that the wines were usually bought by tourists as a joke gift and weren’t meant to cause offense.

The company's website states that it began producing its 'Historical Series' in 1995, and says around half its sales come from the Historical Series, which now has 50+ different labels and "has become a cult object among the collectors".

"The latter consist of bottles of wine of optimal quality with labels that remind us of the life lives of celebrated personages of Italian and world political history such as Che Guevara, Churcill, Francesco Giuseppe, Gramsci, Hitler, Marx, Mussolini, Napoleon and Sissi,"​ it adds.

"Thanks to this invention, the wine company Alessandro Lunardelli has obtained a lot of attention from the media all over the world both for the originality of the idea and for the quality of the wines."

We were awaiting a possible comment from the World Jewish Congress (WJC) as we went to press.

Related topics Markets Beer, Wine, Spirits, Cider

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