International vintners depend on dogs to find wine-tainting molecules
Alejandro Fantoni Sr. was waiting in an airport security line when one of the detection dogs caught his attention. Fantoni struck up a conversation with the handler.
“[My dad] started talking with the trainer of the dog, asking, ‘Can you train dogs to detect any kind of aroma or different scents at a very low concentration?’ and the guy said yes, it was possible,” says Alejandro Fantoni Jr.
Based on the conversation, the elder Fantoni decided to start a first-of-its-kind dog detection program at TN Coopers, a Chile-based cooperage that makes handcrafted wooden barrels for international winemakers.