(Forbes) - The words “courageous” and “wine journalist” aren’t ones that routinely enter my brain within about 24 hours of each other, much less in the same sentence. In fact, wine journalists tend to be just the opposite given the fact that most decided early in their careers they wanted to be nowhere near trading floors, war zones, crime scenes, inner cities – or even vineyards and wineries for that matter. There’s not even much journalism called for in the profession, as the major requirements for the job are: Sip, spit, score, opine, move on. (I know: Been there, done that.) But in a recent bizarre, awkward situation involving a racist diatribe by an Italian winemaker, one very courageous wine journalist made the claim that her profession can be an agent of change for the better. Getting to that point, though, wasn’t at all as smooth as it should have been. Even in a clear, cut-and-dried situation involving blatant, abhorrent racism, it seems difficult for a journalist/critic to take swift, appropriate action.

Here’s what happened. Vintner Fulvio Bressan of Friuli, Italy, posted to Facebook an odd rant making no secret of his feelings for Italy’s African-born Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge (whom Bressan labeled a “dirty black monkey”). In response last week Monica Larner, Italian wine critic for The Wine Advocate, took the temperature of her readers via the publication’s message board. Part of her post appears below: