Fine Wine Made by Prisoners

(Photo: Gorgona)

Gorgona is a small Italian island in the Ligurian Sea. It's a lovely place with scenic rocky cliffs and abundant sea birds. It's also home to a prison with some of Italy's most savage criminals. 50 inmates grow grapes on a farm there. They turn these into a crisp white wine that has a fine reputation among wine connoisseurs.

Winemaker Lamberto Frescobaldi sees the project as an opportunity to rehabilitate the prisoners by giving them meaningful skills:

“The rate of repeat offenders is 80 percent for prisoners who do not find work,” he says. Frescobaldi has also committed to hire some of the workers once they've paid their debt to society.

So far, the prisoners have produced 2,700 bottles of wine. 1,000 of them are coming to the United States.

-via Foodbeast