Prosecco Flashcards
(14 cards)
Prosecco
General info
- Glera grape variety (formely known as Prosecco)
- North-east of Italy
- Tank method
- ligh to medium- intensity apple and pear aromas / light body / med to med+ acidity / low to med alcohol
- sweetness range from Brut to Demi-sec / extra-dry most common style
- Spumante = fully sparkling / Frizzante =. lower pressure
- Prosecco DOC = acceptable to good quality / light intensity / mid-priced + inexpensive examples in supermarkets
- Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG = good to very good quality / medium intensity + greater definition / mid-priced + few premium prices
The name was changed so that Prosecco could be used to designate defined areas that were entitled to use the name and to prevent other regions or countries from exploiting the success of the name
Prosecco
Prosecco PDO’s
Prosecco DOC:
- Former IGT’s covering 9 provinces in Veneto and Friuli became this vast DOC from Trieste to Vicenza
- 24000ha
- most of plantings on the plain
- GI’s Trieste and Treviso may be added if grapes have been grown and wine has been made there
- 82% of total production
Conegliano Valdobbiadene - Prosecco DOCG:
- Hilly, historic area between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene (8100ha) on Veneto
- DOCG since 2009
- most vineyard 200-320m
- The term Superiore may be added and/or Prosecco omitted
- 15% of total production
Asolo Prosecco DOCG:
- Separate DOCG / morem than 2000ha
- Hilly area south of Valdobbiadene
- 3% of total production
Prosecco
Climate and soils
- warm / moderately continental
- moderate rainfall
- Flat plains affected by moist air and fog from the rivers = high disease pressure = high volume of spraying needed
- DOCG areas = hilly = lower temperature from altitude + higher diurnal range = longer,slower ripening = higher acidity + more intense fruit flavours
- soil varies / more fertile in the plain = higher yield + lighter intensity wines
Prosecco
Grape varieties
Glera
- vigorous
- semi-aromatic variety
- capable of high yields
- susceptible to millerandage, powdery and downy mildew, drought in summer, grapvine yellows
- first 2 buds do not bear fruit = trained long, typically 8-12 buds
- low to medium planting density (3000 plants per ha)
- high permitted yields
- 15% local varieties or international varieties are permitted (many wines are 100% Glera)
Prosecco: vineyard management
Training, Pruning, Trellising
Sylvoz:
- high cordon system with shoots that hang downwards
- suited for high vigour sites (flat plains of Prosecco DOC / sometimes used in COnegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG)
- inexpensive to create initially
- minimise winter pruning + suitable for machine harvesting = reduce costs
- height of the cordon = protection from frost
- disadvantages: may encourage over cropping / requires careful monitoring and trimming of the canopy to avoid excessive shading / difficult to distribute the clusters evenly
Double-arched cane:
- form of replacement cane pruning / canes are bent into arches
- improve the evenness of growth and the fruitfulness of Glera
- increase the ventilation of the canopy = reduce fungal diseases
- common in Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG
- disadvantages = individual branches must be tied in on every plant (add cost) / repeated shoot trimming needed to maintain an open canopy
Guyot:
- used on flatter land where is possible to work with machines, reducing cost
Prosecco: vineyard management
Vineyard management in Prosecco DOC
- generally done by machines
- high yields of grapes = lower concentration
- low costs
Prosecco: vineyard management
Vineyard management in Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG
- best wines from south-facing hillside sites
- poorer soils + better drainage = higher concentrations than flatter sites
- higher diurnal range = slower growth = higher concentration of flavours + higher acidity
- steepest part is terraced with grassy banks called Ciglione (must be maintained = add cost)
- work by hand in steeper parts = higher costs
Prosecco
Winemaking
- either press whole bunches (if picked by hand) to preserve primary fruit flavours) or destem and press
- fermantation of base wine last for 15-20 days at controlled temperature (around 18C) to preserve primary fruit
- Second fermentation in tank takes 1 month at 12-15C
- short time on lees (few weeks) + wine is chilled, filtered and bottles
- no dosage = winemaker calculates how much sugar is required at tirage to rpovide required level of C02 and sugar level to remain in the final bottle
- Since 2014 it has been possible to adjust sweetness when the wine is racked off the lees of 2nd fermentation
- quality-focused producers: slow down fermentation process (by lowering the temperature) / longer lees ageing (for extra complexity)
Charmat lungo = 9 months on lees
prosecco: winemaking
Prosecco Col fondo / sui lieviti
- traditional style
- lighlty cloudy
- dry / frizzante style
- “rifermentazione in bottliglia” must appear on the label
- 2nd fermentation in the bottle / wine left undisgorged
- typically crown cap closing
- can be aged for a short time
- fashionable in some wine bars and specialist wine retailers
“Sui lieviti” = required labelling in Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG
Prosecco
Tranquillo
Tiny production of still wine , labelled Tranquillo
Prosecco
Wine law
- min 85% Glera
Yields:
- Prosecco DOC = max 125hL/ha
- Conegliano V. DOCG = max 94.5hL/ha
- CV + “Rive” = 90hL/ha
- CV Superiore di Cartizze DOCG / CV Cartizze = max 85hL/ha
- Asolo Prosecco DOCG = max 94.5hL/ha
- No min age requirement (aim to express primary fruit)
- Must be sold in bottle
- If labelled with vintage, 85% of fruit must come fram stated year
Rive = local word meaning slope of a steep hill
Rive + place name = grapes must come from one of the 43 Rive / hand picked fruit / lower max yields / vintage on label
Prosecco wine law
Superiore di Cartizze DOCG or Cartizze DOCG
- historic, delimited single-vineyard of 108ha located in valdobbiadene
- lower max yield required / only spumante style
- steep hillsides + very good drainage = highest quality area
- fuller body / residual sugar above level of Brut
- wines labelled Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG or Valdobbiadene Cartizze DOCG
- Indication of vintage is only required on Rive wines and sui lieviti
Prosecco
Wine business
- Prosecco DOC = roughly half of italy’s sparkling wine production (led italy into being the world leader in export of sparkling)
- more than double porduction between 2011 and 2016
- 500 million bottles in 2020
- 80% spumante / 17% frizzante / 3% rosé sparkling
- average size of vineyard holdings = 2.5ha / many growers sells to co-operatives
- 11600 growers / 1200 producers of base wine / 350 makers of sparkling (Zonin = large company)
- Co-operatives produce large quantities of base wine that they sell to private companies to finish
- Treviso = most important area for volume of production and for sale of base wine to the bottling companies (treviso can apper on the label if the fruit is grown and the whole production takes place in the province)
- Domestic market = 22% by volume / 70% sold in supermarkets
- export = 78% (tripled in the decade to 2014 / maine export markets = USA, Germany, UK (2/3 of all exports)
- Prosecco = brand / seen as an everyday luxury / Alternative to the cheapest discounted champagne / alternative to still
- Prosecco cocktails contributes to growth
- 2019 addition of Brut Nature and Extra Brut (drier styles)
- 2020 introduction of spumante rosé (up to 15% Pinot Noir made as a red wine / only spumante style / only Brut Nature and Extra Dry)
- Challange to protect the name
- Wine must be sold in bottle / stop other wines being sold on tap as Prosecco
Prosecco: wine business
Conegliano Valdobbiadene-Prosecco DOCG / Asolo DOCG
Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG:
- Extra dry = around 60% of production / Brut = 30%
- 2019 Extra brut (0-6g/L) introduced
- 32 large companies producing more than 1 million bottles a year = 90% of production
- 60% oissold in italy / 40% is exported
- UK, Germany, Switzerland = top export markets
- Challenges = improve recognition of it’s potentially higher quality and achieve higher prices (both for CV DOCG and Asolo DG)
Top producers: Nino Franco / Bisol
