1
Q
What is the principal grape of Prosecco?
A
Glera
2
Q
Prosecco is made with which method?
- Carbonation
- Tank Method
- Traditional Method
A
Tank Method
3
Q
What is the general profile of Prosecco?
A
- Light to medium intensity
- Apple, pear, white peach
- Light body
- Medium to medium+ acidity
- Low to medium alcohol
4
Q
What is the range of styles for Prosecco DOC, and which one is the most classic?
A
- Range: Brut Nature to Demi-Sec (new as of 2019)
- Extra Dry is most classic style of Prosecco
5
Q
In what year did the Prosecco DOCG introduce the Extra Brut and Brut Nature categories?
What is the permissible residual sugar per liter for Extra Brut?
A
- 2019
- 0-6 g/l
6
Q
Choose the correct answer:
Prosecco is made:
- Fully sparkling (spumante) only
- Lower pressure (frizzante) only
- Both spumante and frizzante
A
Both spumante and frizzante
7
Q
What are the bars of pressure for Prosecco frizzante (give a range) and spumante (give a minimum)?
A
Frizzante: 1 - 2.5 bars of pressure
Spumante: 3 bars of pressure minimum
8
Q
What are the three principal PDOs for Prosecco?
A
- Prosecco DOC: large area at 24,000 ha
- Conegliano Valdobbiadene-Prosecco DOCG: smaller area at 8,100 ha
- Asolo Prosecco DOCG: 2000 ha
These area sizes have been updated to reflect the changes made to the August 2023 reading materials.
9
Q
What are the rules surrounding Prosecco spumante rosé?
A
- Must be made with Glera
- Up to 15% of Pinot Noir (made as a red wine) can be added
- Can only be made spumante
- Can only be made Brut Nature to Extra Dry
This new category was introduced in 2020.
10
Q
Under what circumstance is Asolo Prosecco DOCG allowed to use the term ‘Superiore’ on the label?
A
If it is made spumante.
‘Superiore’ cannot be used if the wine was made frizzante.
11
Q
If a producer in Conegliano Valdobbiadene - Prosecco DOCG uses the term ‘Superiore’ on their spumante Prosecco, what word is allowed to be omitted from the label?
A
The word ‘Prosecco’ is allowed to be omitted.
12
Q
What is the climate of Prosecco DOC?
A
Warm with high rainfall, though there is less rain
in summer than in spring or autumn
13
Q
Why does Conegliano Valdobbiadene-Prosecco DOCG have higher acidity and more intensity than wines from Prosecco DOC?
A
Prosecco DOC is on flat land while Conegliano Valdobbiadene-Prosecco DOCG is hillier
- The hills and elevation of the DOCG provide cooling influences.
- There is greater diurnal shift in the DOCG, which makes for a longer, slower ripening season.
14
Q
Why is it generally more expensive to farm Prosecco’s DOCG areas than it is to farm the Prosecco DOC?
A
Prosecco DOC lies on a flat plain and the vineyards are trained with systems that can be machine harvested.
Prosecco’s DOCG vineyard areas are on hills, slopes, and terraces which add to cost for maintenance and harvesting, a lot of which is done by hand.
15
Q
What are ciglione?
A
The most extreme, steep areas of the Prosecco DOCGs that is terraced with grassy banks.
16
Q
Prosecco DOC is spread out over a large, fertile plain.
What does this contribute to in the wines?
A
- Higher yields
- Lighter intensity in the wine
17
Q
How Glera performs as a grape variety and in the vineyard:
- Is it neutral, semi-aromatic, or aromatic?
- Is it vigorous or a slow grower?
- What are the viticultural hazards it is susceptible to?
A
- Semi-aromatic
- Vigorous (capable of high yields!)
- Susceptible to:
- millerandage
- powdery + downy mildew
- drought in summer
- grapevine yellows
18
Q
Why is the planting density for Prosecco DOC on the low end (only 3,000 plants/ha)?
A
Because Glera is a vigorous grower.
19
Q
What are the most common training options for Glera?
A
- Sylvoz
- Double-arched cane
- Single or double Guyot
20
Q
Which training system is most used in Prosecco DOC?
Why?
A
Sylvoz because it encourages high yields.
- It’s a high cordon system with downward-hanging shoots;
- provides frost protection;
- can encourage overcropping + big canopy;
- It’s inexpensive to maintain;
- Minimizes winter pruning;
- Good for machine harvesting.
21
Q
Why is the Double Arched Cane training system commonly used in Conegliano Valdobbiadene-Prosecco DOCG?
A
- Improves ventilation, reducing risk of fungal disease.
- Encourages even growing.
It’s a type of cane pruning where the canes are bent into arches. It requires hand harvesting and pruning, which increase costs.
22
Q
Briefly go through how Prosecco is made.
A
- Primary fermentation lasts 15–20 days at around 18°C (64°F) to retain primary fruit.
- Malo is blocked (to retain acidity and to retain primary fruit).
- Secondary fermentation occurs in tank at 12–15°C (54–59°F) and takes one month, again to retain the primary fruit.
- It spends a few weeks on the lees.
- Chilled, filtered and bottled.
There is no requirement to age either DOC or DOCG wines because the emphasis is on freshness of fruit flavors. See p.64 to review this.
23
Q
Because Prosecco traditionally doesn’t have a final dosage, how do winemakers make Prosecco Extra Dry?
A
For both spumante and frizzante, the winemaker calculates how much sugar is needed as tirage – which will ignite the second fermentation, and provide both the required level of CO2 and the remaining sugar in the final wine.
Good to Know: since 2014 winemakers may adjust the sweetness when the wine is racked off its lees after second fermentation.
24
Q
How can a winemaker of Prosecco add complexity to their wine?
A
- Slow down secondary fermentation by lowering the temperature, allowing deeper flavor development.
- Age the wine sur lie for a few months (instead of a few weeks) which will add mild biscuit notes (the wine will not be autolytic, just more complex with a wider range of flavors).
25
What is 'sur lie' in Italian?
Sui lieviti
| (soo-ee lee-EH-vee-tee)
26
What is Col Fondo?
Simply, it's Prosecco Pet-Nat:
* Second fermentation happens in the bottle and the words *rifermentazione in bottiglia* must appear on the bottle.
* Not disgorged, so it usually has sediment and is **lightly cloudy**.
* **Dry**
* **Frizzante** in style
* Can be used for either DOC or DOCG.
| From p.64 of the text.
## Footnote
From 2020 the Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG regulations will require the wines to be called sui lieviti (on the lees).
27
Is there such a thing as still Prosecco? If so, what is it called?
Yes! It's called **Tranquillo**, and only a small amount is made.
28
The minimum percent of Glera that must be in Prosecco DOC, DOCG, and Superiore di Cartizze is \_\_\_%.
Another way to ask this is, What is the maximum percentage of other varieties that is allowed in these Prosecco appellations?
**85% minimum Glera**
**Maximum 15% other varieties** (including local varieties, such as Verdiso, and international varieties, such as Chardonnay).
29
What are the **two designations** **allowed** within Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG?
1. Superiore di Cartizze DOCG or Cartizze
2. Rive
30
What is Superiore di Cartizze?
* A historic, single vineyard, amphitheater-shaped area in Valdobbiadene
* 108ha in size (quite large!)
* Steep hillsides, most of which are south facing
* Shallow soils
* Regarded as an area with the highest quality, and it's usually fuller bodied
* Prosecco not used in conjunction with Cartizze
31
Rive:
* What does it translate to?
* What are the requirements if a winemaker uses it on a label?
* Translates to '**slope of a steep hill**'; it's also a place name.
* Grapes must be grown in **1 of 43 designated single communes or vineyards**.
* Must be **hand picked**.
* Must have **vintage** on label.
32
What are the maximum yields for Prosecco DOC?
125hl/ha
33
What are the maximum yields for Prosecco DOCG?
What is the maximum yield if the wine is labeled 'Rive'?
94.5 hL/ha
if ‘Rive’, 90 hL/ha
34
What are the maximum yields for Asolo Prosecco DOCG?
94.5 hL/ha
35
What are the maximum yields for Superiore di Cartizze?
85 hL/ha
36
Where is Asolo Prosecco DOCG in relation to Valdobbiadene?
What is its maximum yield per hectare?
* South
* 94.5hl/ha
37
If Prosecco is made vintage, what percent of the wine must be from that vintage?
85%
38
Prosecco DOC accounts for how much of Italy’s total sparkling wine production?
Roughly half
39
How does Prosecco DOC account for about half of all of Italy's sparkling wine production when the average size of farms is only 2.5ha?
There are about 11,600 growers, and those growers sell their fruit to co-ops or négociants.
Co-ops, which themselves account for just over half of all the fruit grown, make large volumes of base wine that *they* then sell to private companies to finish.
40
What does the word 'Treviso' mean on a Prosecco DOC label?
An **important area for volume production**.
## Footnote
It's allowed to appear on a Prosecco DOC label IF the grapes were grown in Treviso AND if production occured in the Treviso province.
41
Approximately how much Prosecco produced is spumante, and how much is frizzante?
* 80% spumante
* 17% frizzante
42
How much Prosecco DOC is exported annually?
How much DOCG is exported annually?
DOC: 78% exported
DOCG: 40% exported
## Footnote
Top DOC markets are UK, USA, Germany
Top DOCG markets are Germany, UK, Switzerland
43
What is the residual sugar range for Prosecco Brut Nature?
0-3g/L
44
France vs. Italy: which one is the largest exporter *by volume* and which is the largest exporter *by value*?
Largest exporter by volume: Italy
Largest exporter by value: France
45
# Fill in the blank:
Italian traditional method sparkling wines produce an equivalent of around \_\_\_% of all Prosecco production.
4%
## Footnote
*Split between Franciacorta (nearly 18M btls) and Trentodoc (9M btls)*
46
Asti DOCG is made using a variation of which method: Tank Method or Traditional Method?
Tank Method
47
What is the grape used in Asti DOCG and Moscato d'Asti DOCG?
Moscato Bianco
| (Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains)
48
In which three provinces are Asti DOCG and Moscato d'Asti DOCG allowed to be made?
1. Cuneo
2. Asti
3. Alessandria
49
Which is typically sweeter, lower in alcohol, semi-sparkling: Moscato d'Asti DOCG or Asti DOCG?
Moscato d'Asti DOCG
## Footnote
*Asti DOCG typically has higher alcohol and is fully sparkling (spumante).*
50
What is the climate where Asti DOCG is made?
**Moderate continental** with cold winters and warm, dry summers.
51
What are the weather threats affecting Asti production?
* Rainy spring
* Autumn
## Footnote
Rainy spring can affect fruit set.
Rainy autumn can affect harvest.
52
What are the soil types preferred to grow grapes for Asti DOCG?
Limestone + clay soils on hillsides.
## Footnote
Limestone makes the grapes more aromatic;
The hillsides provide good drainage and sunlight interception.
53
What is the maximum yield for Asti DOCG?
75 hL/ha
54
What is Moscato Bianco prone to?
* Powdery mildew
* Botrytis bunch rot
* Mites
## Footnote
Its fragrant aromatics attract bees, wasps, and flying ants, all of which can damage the grape's thin skin thereby inviting disease.
55
# Which of the following is correct?
Moscato Bianco's traits include:
1. Early budding, early ripening, large berries
2. Early budding, mid-ripening, small berries
3. Early budding, late ripening, medium-sized berries
2. Early budding, mid-ripening, small berries
56
What is the common trellising for Moscato Bianco in Asti?
Guyot with vertical shoot positioning (VSP)
57
Why is Guyot with VSP the preferred trellising for Moscato Bianco?
VSP provides:
1. Excellent sunlight exposure for the grapes
2. Decreased humidity, which:
* reduces risk of fungal diseases
* allows for better ripening
Also, grape growers don't want to over-crop their Moscato Bianco vines, so using Guyot on poor soils (combined with the area's moderate rainfall) helps them achieve that.
## Footnote
*Refresher: over-cropping is when the fruit yield of a vine is too high compared to its vigor; the vine uses too many sugars from carbohydrates which are stored in its trunk, cordons, and roots, which are resources the vine will need in the winter and following spring. Over-cropping thusly weakens a vine in future years.*
58
How do producers decide when to harvest their Moscato Bianco?
By ripeness of the fruit and desired acidity.
## Footnote
Acidity is necessary to balance the significant sweetness in the final wine;
Harvest happens early to mid-September, before the October rains.
59
Grapes for Asti DOCG are picked earlier or later?
Why?
Grapes for **Asti** are picked a little **earlier** which assures higher acidity.
60
Grapes for Moscato dAsti DOCG are picked early or late?
Why?
Grapes for **Moscato d’Asti** are picked a little **later** to assure the grapes reach their benchmark pronounced, perfumed aromatics.
61
Is there a mandate on how grapes are harvested for Asti DOCG or Moscato d'Asti DOCG?
No -- both DOCGs can be either machine or hand harvested.
## Footnote
Grapes will be hand harvested if the grapes are on steep slopes where machines cannot go, or if the winemaker wants to use whole bunches.
Grapes will be machine harvested if the slope allows or if the land is flatter (plus, it's cheaper).
62
Is Asti whole-bunch pressed or destemmed?
**It depends on how the grapes were harvested**
* If the grapes were picked as whole bunches, they'll be whole-bunch pressed.
* If the grapes were machine harvested (or destemmed), they'll be pressed quickly to avoid oxidation.
63
After the grapes for Asti and Moscato d'Asti are pressed, what happens to the juice?
The juice is:
1. Clarified and filtered.
2. Then refrigerated to 2–3°C (36–37°F) and kept in the freshest possible condition for when there is demand, at which point the must will be fermented.
## Footnote
The whole idea around Asti is to release wine throughout the year that has the most fresh, primary fruit flavors possible.
64
How long can a winemaker hold refrigerated Asti or Moscato d'Asti grape must without losing its freshness and aromatics?
Up to 2 years
65
Is malolactic conversion **encouraged or avoided** in Asti and Moscato d'Asti production?
**Avoided** so as to preserve acidity.
66
How are Asti and Moscato d'Asti fermented?
How do they retain residual sugar?
* In a single fermentation in tanks at 16–18°C (61–64°F) to preserve fresh, primary fruit.
* Residual sweetness is natural sugar from the grapes, not from tirage or dosage.
* Fermentation is stopped before it becomes dry.
67
What is unique to Asti fermentation?
CO2 is allowed to escape during the first part of fermentation.
## Footnote
Once the sugar goes down to a certain level, which determines pressure + final residual sugar levels, the tank is closed and the CO2 is retained.
68
How is Asti fermentation stopped?
Rapidly chilling the wine and filtering it under pressure to remove the yeast.
69
How soon are Asti and Moscato d'Asti released after they are made?
Released **after a few weeks** -- they're meant to be drunk young!
Fermentation in large tanks + early release for sale means large volumes of wine can be made quickly.
70
Why is the financial investment for making Asti or Moscato d'Asti so costly for a wine that ends up being so inexpensive/affordable?
Large capital investments are required for the machinery: presses, flotation tanks, filtration/centrifuge equipment, heat exchangers, and refrigerated storage space.
Energy costs can also be high to power all this machinery and refrigerated storage.
## Footnote
This is why over 60% of all the Asti and Moscato d'Asti produced is made by large companies who can afford the equipment and ongoing energy costs.
71
What is the style range for Asti DOCG and Asti Metodo Classico?
Pas Dosé to Dolce
72
What is the **minimum percent** abv for Asti DOCG?
6%
## Footnote
The final alcohol level is now open-ended above a 6% lower limit, thus enabling dryer styles of Asti.
73
# Fill in the blank:
Asti Metodo Classico requires \_\_\_ months sur lie in the bottle.
9
74
Moscato d'Asti DOCG regulations:
* Final alcohol % range?
* How many grams of residual sugar per liter?
* Maximum atmospheres of pressure?
* 4.5 - 6.5% abv
* ~130g/L
* Cannot be over 2.5 atmospheres of pressure (read: must be frizzante)
75
What three types of Asti wine does the Consorzio dell'Asti promote?
1. **Moscato d'Asti**
2. **Asti Secco** (off-dry, competes with Prosecco)
3. **Asti Dolce** (also known just as Asti)
76
There are huge companies that have large facilities and specialize in making high volume Asti and Moscato d'Asti, such as Martini.
How do the small Barolo and Barbaresco producers typically make their Moscato d'Asti?
They will send their Moscato grapes to specialist sparkling wine firms to be made into wine.
77
What role do co-ops have in the production of Asti and Moscato d'Asti?
**A big one**! Some co-ops supply 30% or more of a large company's total production.
Co-ops can provide the big companies with either unpressed fruit or chilled, clarified, and filtered must which the big companies will then ferment themselves.
78
Asti DOCG sales and consumption is mostly in the EU or abroad?
Mostly in the EU.
WSET® Level 4 D4 Sparkling Wine
flashcards
Decks in class (13)
# Cards
-
D4 Sparkling Wines: Overview95
-
D4 Sparkling: Champagne104
-
D4 Sparkling: Other French Traditional Method78
-
D4 Sparkling: Cava85
-
D4 Sparkling: Prosecco + Asti78
-
D4 Sparkling: Lambrusco38
-
D4 Sparkling: Franciacorta + Trentodoc50
-
D4 Sparkling: Australia + New Zealand43
-
D4 Sparkling: South Africa20
-
D4 Sparkling: Germany38
-
D4 Sparkling: England and Wales27
-
D4 Sparkling: USA23
-
D4 Sparkling: Chile + Argentina30
