D4.C10. Prosecco Flashcards
Which grapes are used to produce Prosecco?
- Mainly Glera
- Local and some international varieties upto 15% are permitted
Tasting notes for Prosecco
- Light to medium (-) intensity apple and pear
- A light body
- Medium to medium (+) acidity
- Low or medium alcohol
What is the range and the most common style for sweetness for Prosecco?
- Brut to Demi- Sec
- Extra Dry being the most common style
What are the styles of Prosecco in terms of pressure?
- Spumante (full sparkling)
- Frizzante (lower pressure)
What are the main differences between Prosecco DOC and Prosecco DOCG wines?
The DOC wines are mainly of light intensity, while the DOCG wines typically show medium intensity and greater definition and range of primary fruit than the DOC wines (pear, apple, peach)
What are the quality/price range for Prosecco DOC and Prosecco DOCG wines?
- DOC: Acceptable to good quality/ mainly mid-priced with some inexpensive examples in supermarkets
- DOCG: Good to very good quality/ mainly mid-priced, with a few wines at premium prices
What are the PDOs for Prosecco and their planted areas ?
- Prosecco DOC: 23.000 ha
- Conegliano Valdobbiadene – Prosecco DOCG: 7.700 ha
- Asolo Prosecco DOCG: 1.800 ha
What is the topography of the most of the vineyards in Prosecco DOC?
The grapes are overwhelmingly grown on the plain
When can the the geographical indications Treviso or Trieste be added to Prosecco DOC?
If the grapes have been grown and the wine made within these two areas
How can the sparkling wines from Conegliano Valdobbiadene – Prosecco DOCG be labelled?
- Producers must use either or both names of the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene
- Within the spumante category, the term ‘Superiore’ may be added and/or ‘Prosecco’ omitted
What does ‘Superiore’ term on the label imply for the Conegliano Valdobbiadene – Prosecco DOCG wines?
Superiore is part of the name of the wine and implies no difference in terms of winemaking
Why is the name of the grape Prosecco changed to Glera?
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
What are the percentages of production volumes in 3 denominations of Prosecco?
- Prosecco DOC: 82%
- Conegliano Valdobbiadene – Prosecco DOCG: 16%
- Asolo Prosecco DOCG: 2%
How is the climate in Prosecco DOC?
Warm and moderately continental with moderate rainfall
What are the modifying factors that affect the climate in Prosecco DOC and Prosecco DOCG?
- Flat plain: Moist air and fog from the rivers of the region, increasing the number of sprays
- DOCG: Hillier area: Cooling influences coming from altitude itself and the higher diurnal temperature ranges, which make for longer, slower ripening (wines from the DOCG area can have higher acidity and more intense fruit flavours)
What are the viticultural properties of Glera?
- Vigorous, semi-aromatic variety capable of very high yields
- Susceptible to millerandage, to powdery and downy mildew, to drought in summer and to grapevine yellows
- As the first two buds do not bear much fruit, it has to be trained long, typically on vertically trellised systems with 8–12 buds
- Low to medium planting densities (3,000 plants per ha) are normal due to the vigour of the variety
What are common training options for Glera?
- Sylvoz
- Double-arched cane
- Guyot
Describe Sylvoz training
- It is a high cordon system with shoots that hang downwards
- It is well suited to high vigour sites such as on the fertile, flatter land of Prosecco DOC
What are the advantages of Slyvoz training?
- Inexpensive to create initially
- Minimises winter pruning
- It is suitable for machine harvesting all of which reduces cost
- Protection from the frost
What are the disadvantages of Slyvoz training?
- It may encourage over cropping,
- It requires careful monitoring and trimming of the canopy to avoid excessive shading
- It is difficult to distribute the clusters evenly
Describe double-arched cane pruning.
It is a form of replacement cane pruning where the canes are bent into arches
What are the advantages of double-arched cane training?
- Improves the evenness of the growth and the fruitfulness of Glera
- Increases the ventilation of the canopy, reducing fungal diseases
What are the disadvantages of double-arched cane training?
- Individual branches must be tied in on every plant (adding to cost)
- Care must be taken to maintain an open canopy by repeated shoot thinning
Guyot training is preferred on which area of Prosecco region? Why?
It is used on the flatter land where, after winter pruning, it is possible to work with machines, reducing cost
What is the norm in harvest in Prosecco DOC?
Mechanical harvest
What is the aspect of the vineyards that produce best wines in Prosecco DOCG? Why?
- South-facing hillside sites
- Slower groth due to reduced fertility (poorer soils and better drainage than on flatter sites) with greater day/night temperature differences.
What is “ciglione”?
The steepest parts of the Prosecco DOCG the land is terraced with grassy banks called ciglione, which has to be maintained and repaired, adding cost
Is hand-harvesting mandatory for Prosecco DOCG?
- No, producers choose whether to pick by hand (adding cost) and or whether to machine harvest
- Only fruit for DOCG wines in the categories Cartizze, Rive and sui lieviti must be picked by hand
What are the common winemaking choices for Prosecco?
- Fermentation of the base wine for 15–20 days at a controlled temperature of around 18°C to preserve primary fruit
- Malolactic conversion is blocked to retain acidity
- Second fermentation in tank takes one month at 12–15°C
- After a short time on the lees (a few weeks), the wines are then chilled, filtered and bottled
Is there any requirement for aging for DOC and DOCG Prosecco? Why?
There is no requirement to age the wines as the emphasis is on freshness
How is the sweetness level of Prosecco adjusted?
- Traditionally, Prosecco has been made without final adjustment of the sweetness
- Since 2014, it has been possible to adjust the sweetness when the wine is racked off the lees of second fermentation
What do some quality-focused winemakers do to increase the complexity of the Prosecco they produce?
They slow the process of second fermentation down (by lowering the temperature) or age the wine on the lees for a few months
What is Charmat Lungo?
It is a Prosecco kept in contact with the lees for at least FOR 9 months
What is “Prosecco Col Fondo”?
- This is a traditional style typically producing lightly cloudy, dry wines in a frizzante style
- The phrase rifermentazione in bottiglia (refermentation in the bottle) must appear on the bottle
- Wine is left undisgorged
- Bone dry
- Typically finished with a crown cap and contains sediment
- From 2020 the Prosecco DOCG regulations will require the wines to be called sui lieviti (on the lees)
How is the trend for sui lieviti wines?
Production levels are tiny, but, as with Pet Nat, it is fashionable in some wine bars and specialist wine retailers
What is “Tranquillo”?
Still wine produced in Prosecco region
What is the minimum percentage of Glera in Prosecco?
85%
What is the maximum permitted yield for Prosecco DOC?
125 hL/ha
What is the maximum permitted yield for Prosecco DOCG?
- 94.5 hL/ha
- 90 hL/ha if with a mention of a ‘Rive’
- 85 hL/ha if Superiore di Cartizze DOCG or Cartizze
What is the maximum permitted yield for Asolo Prosecco DOCG?
94.5 hL/ha
What are the stipulations that are common to all denominations of Prosecco?
- Minimum of 85% Glera
- No minimum ageing requirements
- The wine must be sold in bottle
- If labelled with a vintage, then the wine must be 85% of that vintage
What are the stipulations for Prosecco DOCG with a mention of a ‘Rive’?
- Grapes must be grown in one of 43 Rive
- Picked by hand
- Harvested at lower maximum yields (90hL/ha)
- Vintage must be shown on the label
What are the stipulations for Superiore di Cartizze DOCG or Cartizze DOCG?
- Lower yield (85hL/ha)
- Only spumante style
- The word Prosecco is not normally used in conjunction with Cartizze, thus the bottles are labelled either Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG or Valdobbiadene Cartizze DOCG
What is the significance of Asolo in terms of Prosecco production?
While production levels are small compared to the other two denominations, production rose from 1,000,000 to more than 12 million bottles in the period 2013–2018
Prosecco DOC accounts for how many percent of Italy’s considerable sparkling wine production?
Roughly 50%
What is the percentages of spumante and frizzante styles of produced Proseccos?
- Spumante: 75%
- Frizzante: 25%
What is the average size of vineyard holdings?
2.5 ha
What are the numbers of growers, producers of base wine and makers of sparkling wine?
10,000 growers, but only 1,200 producers of base wine and only 350 makers of sparkling wine
Co-operatives account for how much of the fruit grown in Prosecco region?
About 50%
Private companies bottle how many percent of the wine in Prosecco?
75%
What are the percentages of domestic market and export for Prosecco?
- Domestic market: 25% (50% hospitality sector/50% via retail)
- Export: 75% (tripled in the decade to 2014)
What are the main export markets for Prosecco?
UK, the USA and Germany (account for
nearly two thirds of all exports by volume)
After the substantial growth of recent times, what is the main aim of Prosecco producers?
To stabilise and maintain the current levels of sales in the face of increasing competition
What are the recent advances aiming to maintain the current levels of sales in the face of increasing competition?
- In 2019, DOC Prosecco added the Brut Nature and Extra Brut categories aimed at those who are looking for a drier style
- There are also plans for a Prosecco rosé, currently not allowed within the DOC, with Pinot Noir grapes providing the colour
- All the Prosecco denominations require the wines to be sold in bottle only and they have been vigilant to stop other sparkling wines being sold on tap as Prosecco (like some Australian growers in the King Valley)
What is the most common styles for Prosecco DOCG?
- Extra Dry (60%)
- Brut (30%)
When was the Extra Brut category introduced for Prosecco DOCG?
2019
What are the percentages of domestic market and export for Prosecco DOCG?
- Domestic market: 60% (largest sales in northern Italy)
- Export: 40%
What are the main export markets for Prosecco DOCG?
- Germany
- UK
- Switzerland
What are the significant producers for Prosecco DOCG?
- Nino Franco
- Bisol
What are the main aims of the producers of Prosecco DOCG for promoting their wine?
- To improve recognition of its potentially higher quality wine among consumers who see Prosecco as a generic brand and to achieve a higher price for their wine
- With the DOCG region now fully planted, continued growth depends on achieving higher prices
