In the constant battle against counterfeit wines, new techniques are continually evolving using new materials an innovative applications. Labels, bottle tops and watermarks have assumed more important roles in safeguarding wine production. Today, to combat the counterfeit production of wines there are various microchips and special bottles in use. Tuscany is leading these innovations. Recent techniques include the use of microchips incorporated in the wine labels with electronic information regarding the wines origin which are verified using a decoder. In America, these initiatives have been successful despite the fact that the microchip is very expensive and this in turn increases the cost of the wine itself. Other innovations include watermarks which make reproduction very difficult.
