Sparkling Wines, Champagnes and Prosecco

According to dosage, Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, Demi-Sec or Sweet, sparkling wines can be paired with many foods from aperitif to dessert, bringing out aromas and tastes of finger food, cheeses, cold cuts, meat, fish, shellfish, but also fruit and cakes. Why uncork a bottle of sparkling wine only on holidays or special occasions? The habit of welcoming a friend with a Champagne, Franciacorta, Proseccoor any other white sparkling wine or rosé wine is not that common, neither it is to choose a quality drink to make it even more pleasing.

The popping of the cork, the sensation of the bubble on the palate, the bead and colour brightness, alongside the recognizable and elegant aromas make sparkling wine perfect to share moments of joy and conversations with friends, bringing good mood to the table. Besides, its structure brings out food flavour by cleansing taste buds and allowing to best savour pairing dishes. Also, there is an increasing trend to create cocktails made with sparkling wines, prosecco or even champagne, suitable for an aperitif with friends.

To best select sparkling wines one should consider aging on yeasts, dosage, effervescence, acidity, alcohol percentage, softness, roundness in the mouth, all of them giving sparkling wines a unique taste.

History

Quality sparkling wines as we know them today were born in France at the end of 1600 in the Champagne region.

According to the tradition, Champagne, progenitor of quality sparkling wines we know today, was invented in XVII century by Don Pierre Pérignon (which gave its name to famous champagne Dom Pérignon), treasurer of the Benedectine abbey of Hautvillers. Often, reality is not myth, like in this specific case where sparkling winemaking appears in previous centuries in a work by a Benedectine monk.

What we know for sure is that the experiences and findings of vine growers from Champagne were codified in the famous Méthode Champenoise, allowing to turn a mix of still wines into sparkling ones, thanks to the action of yeasts and sugars. In these bottles, or at least those resisting at the high pressure of carbon dioxide, a very much appreciated wine was being created, so much so that vine growers committed to it and it would soon spread all over the world.

Production method: Traditional Method or "Metodo Classico"

Colours from yellow to golden, intense and complex aromas, reminding of yeast and bread, flowers, fresh or dried fruit, brioches or biscuits, elegant flavours, structure and the long lasting aromas, are all distinctive traits of the best expressions of Metodo Classico.

All the process should be executed with the greatest care, from the base wines: ideal grapes from which ideal Metodo Classico sparkling wines are made are chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot blanc and pinot meunier. Cuvée is the accurate blend of base wines in variable proportions, determined by a wine expert, according to what sparkling wine you want to obtain. The final cuvée is obtained from different wines from previous vintages, stored for their quality and prestige. If composed by elaborate wines from grapes of the same harvest or for at least 85%, cuveé becomes the famous millesimé, whose age will be on the label. On the other hand, if wines from previous vintages are used the sans année is obtained, sparkling wine with no vintage indication, undergoing yeast aging process shorter than the 4-8 years of the millesimé.

Once the cuvée is created, the liqueur de tirage is added, made out of wine and exact cane sugar amount, yeasts and mineral substances. Thanks to this special liqueur, bubbles will slowly start forming. Sugar quantity in the liqueur de tirage is a fundamental element determining the final pressure. It normally should be around 24 g/l (in the case of the Satèn Franciacorta, infact, the final pressure is lower because sugar quantity is reduced to 18 g/l).

After making sure that liqueur de tirage is totally amalgamated in the cuvée, wine can be bottled in the traditional champagnotte bottle, designed to decharge internal pressure and avoid popping. (Even glass colour has its functions: dark green, dark brown or almost black to protect wine from the action of the light that could activate oxydation phenomena). In this phase, bottles are sealed with a stainless steel bidule, to prevent rust formation during fermentation due to moisture.

In the absence of vibrations, noises, heat, light and with an adequate level of moisture, wine slowly starts fermenting in bottles placed in an horizontal position, in cellars or thermoconditioned locals at a temperature of 10-12°C. After 6 months yeasts will transform sugar into carbon dioxide, etilic alcohol and many other secondary substances enriching the sparkling wine with tastes and flavours. Aging on yeasts period varies from 18 to 36 months to 7-8 years for great sparkling wines.

At the end of aging, bottles are placed on special tripods, called pupitre. Here, remuage occurs, (now more and more mechanized), a method through which experts place the bottles in a vertical position, carefully shaking them to provoke separation of the residuals and conglomerates of yeasts from the walls and bottle cork.

Residuals are then eliminated through degorgement à la glace or dégorgement: bottle neck is immersed for a few minutes in a salt solution, at very low temperature (reaching -30 °C) until an ice cylinder of a few centimeters incorporates residuals. Once the bottle is uncorked, internal pressure expels iced residuals, leaving the wine perfectly transparent. Dégorgement was once made à la volée, so the bottle was set upright until the air bubble reached bottle neck and only at that point the cork was uncorked so that the air bubble expelled the residuals. However, this spectacular method could not guarantee correct waste disposal.

Dosage phase is not the last and consists of adding a syrup, the liqueur d'expédition, made by producer and is composed by more or less aged wine, cane sugar and sometimes even a spirit or brandy, depending on to the product one wants to obtain.

After this, the final corking with the traditional mushroom-shaped cork and with the typical wire hood, the label and aging.

Production method: Charmat Method or "Metodo Martinotti"

To make production faster and reduce the costs, the Italian Federico Martinotti, came up with the idea of making sparkling wine in a air tight container, that he designed together with French engineer Eugène Charmat.

This method is often used to make sweet sparkling wines, allowing to maintain fruity and aromatic characters of the grapes used. Just like in the Metodo Classico, cuvée is made with base wines that are put together as suggested by a wine expert. The main difference is in fermentation in the autoclaves: big stainless steel containers with double walls and machines for controlling wine temperature. At this point pied de cuve is prepared, which is a base made of selected yeasts, with the addition of sugars and mineral salts facilitating yeasts development and activity. After this, a second fermentation happens. With the Martinotti (Charmat) method, fermentation times are shorter and within a few months sparkling wine is ready to be put on the market.

Grapes

Grape choice should be made according to the results one wants to achieve.

Aromatic grapes are ideal for sweet sparkling wines production. White muscat, malmsey and brachetto are the most used for complex sparkling wines, generally made with the Martinotti method.

Grapes that are more suitable for making sparkling wines with the Metodo Classico are chardonnay, able to handle all kinds of pedoclimatic conditions, often used as a monogrape, with good structure and acidity and above all elegance and fineness; pinot noir, black berried grape vinified in white for the making of sparkling wines in purity and of many cuvée, to which it gives strength and body, persistence and structure; pinot blanc and pinot gris with tender aromas, reduced or delicate acidity levels and structure.

Black berried pinot meunier is only used in Champagne due to its resistance and adaptability to difficult climate conditions of the area.