Bubbles for the New Year — The Sommomlier

Dec 30

Dec 30 Bubbles for the New Year

Happy New Year, my dear readers! Last year I gave you my crash course on sparkling wines and as we prepare to enter 2017 (what?!) I'm going to go a little more in depth with Prosecco. Firstly, there is a plural of Prosecco and I really want to use it in this post: Prosecchi. All Prosecchi are made with the Glera grape (previously called Prosecco, but was renamed to avoid confusion) which is grown in two regions in Italy.
Prosecco DOC: grapes are sourced from a widespread area of Veneto and Friuli
Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG: grapes are sourced from a small area between Veneto and Friuli where the slopes are steep and made of limestone. It's a higher quality wine than Prosecco DOC. If the terms "Cartizze" or "Rive" appear on the label, that's an indication of a superior vineyard.

Most Prosecco is non vintage, meaning that it is a blend of multiple vintages. Winemakers choose to do this with many sparkling wines because it ensures that a producer's style of Prosecco remains consistent year to year. It's fermented like any wine is, then the vintage mashup happens and the wine undergoes a secondary fermentation to give it all those bubbles. Here's how it's done:

The wine is placed in a sealed tank along with sugar, yeast, and nutrients for the yeast to survive
The yeast feeds on the sugar, converting it to alcohol
This process releases carbon dioxide and because the tank is sealed the gas has nowhere to go but back into the wine
The yeast sediment is filtered out of the wine and then it's bottled. The wine, not the sediment. Yuck.
Voila! Prosecco

Because I'm feeling ~~fizzy~~ fancy, I'm going to taste a wine from each of the designated regions. First up is the Tiamo Prosecco. I'm cheating just a teeny bit with this one: although it's labeled Prosecco DOC, a portion of the grapes used to make this wine are sourced from the village of Valobbiandene. Which explains why I liked it better than most Prosecchi that I've had. I found that it's not as bold in flavor as I was expecting, which I enjoyed. Not that I dislike Prosecco, but I really appreciate it when a wine kills it while still being delicate. It was juicy and light and showed flavors of peach, pear, lemon, and yellow apple. I thought that it had a really great balance of flavors, body, and acidity and I enjoyed this one. It's definitely worth snapping up for your New Year's bubbles.

Next on the docket is Bortolotti Valdobbiadene DOCG and I thought it was amazing. Like the Tiamo, this wine was light bodied with delicate but fruity flavors. The Bortolotti was more dry and I was getting notes of nectarine, pear, green apple, and lemon juice. In short, it tasted like a really delicious fruit bowl. This is your brunch wine if you're feeling up to it on New Year's Day ;)