Prosecco Flashcards
Primary Method
Tank Method
Grapes
- Glera
Region
- Northeast Italy
Flavor Profile
”- Light to M- intensity
- Apple, pear
- Light body
- M to M+ acidity
- Low to med ABV
- Brut to Demi-sec (Extra Dry = most common)
- Fully sparkling (spumante) and lower pressure (frizzante)”
Prosecco DOC
”- Former IGT that covered 9 provinces in the regions of Veneto & Friuli is now the DOC that expands from Trieste to Vicenza
- 23,000 hc
- Mostly grown on flat plains
- Treviso = volume production”
Conegliano Valdobbiadene - Prosecco DOCG {aka Prosecco DOCG}
”- Hilly (200 - 320m), historic area between the two towns (C & V) in Veneto
- 7,700 ha
- "”Superiore”” can be added with or without mention of Prosecco”
Asolo Prosecco DOCG
”- Hilly area south of Valdobbiadene
- 1,800 ha
- Just 2% of production BUT growing fast = production rose from 1,000,000 to more than 12
million bottles in the period 2013–2018”
Climate
Warm and moderately continental {w/ moderate rainfall}
Climate Description - flat plain
Affected by moist air and fog from rivers increase the use of sprays to combat diseases
Cliamte Description - hillier areas
Cooling influences from altitude and higher diurnal temperature ranges {causing longer, slower ripening = higher acid + more intense fruit flavors}
Soils
Vary but are generally more fertile on the plains = higher yeilds
Grape Variety
”- Glera
- 15% can be other local varieties or certain international varieties”
Grape Variety - description
”- Vigorous
- Semi-aromatic
- Capable of high yeilds
- Susceptible to millerandage, powdery + downey mildew, drought, grapevine yellows
- Low to Med planting densities (3k ha) due to vigor
- Scientists have found three varieties called Prosecco but they’re blended together”
Vineyard Management
”- First two buds don’t bear much fruit so it’s trained long and typically on vertically trellised systems with 8 - 12 buds
- Sylvoz, doublearched
cane and single or double Guyot”
Vineyard Management - Sylvoz
”- High cordon system with shoots that hang downward
- Suited for high vigor sites (like fertile, flat plains in P. DOC)
- Pros: Mechanization, lower cost, less winter pruning, less risk of frost
- Cons: may encourage over cropping, hard to distribute clusters evenly”
Vineyard Management - Double Arched Cane
”- Replacement cane pruning where canes are bent into arches
- Pros: improves evenness of growth, fruitfulness, and ventilation reducing risk of fungal disease
- Cons: branches must be tied in on every plant (costly) and lots of careful canopy management required
- Common on hillsides of P. DOCG where high quality is the goal”
Vineyard Management - DOC
- Cost conscious, mechanization = less concentration
Vineyard Management - DOCG
”- South facing hillside sites = more concentration
- Terraced with grassy banks called ““ciglione”” = cost
- Picked by hand or machine
- Reduced fertility (poorer soils, better drainage), greater diurnal range which slows growth, lower (but still generous) yeilds”
How are Cartizze, Rive, sui lieviti harvested?
Must be picked by hand
Winemaking - Press
”- Hand picked = choose between whole bunch (preserve primary fruit flavors) or destem + press
- Machine harvest = destem + press only”
Winemaking - 1st Fermentation
”- 15 to 20 days at controlled tems around 64 F (preseve primary)
- MLF = blocked (preserve primary and acidity)”
Winemaking - 2nd Fermentation
”- 30 days at controlled temps around 54 - 49F
- Short time on lees (few weeks)
- Wines are chilled, filtered, bottled”
Winemaking - No ageing
- No requirement to age the wines as the emphasis is on freshness
Winemaking - Other considerations
- Traditionally, no adjustments to sweetness (e.g. dosage) as it’s usually handled through getting the right amount of sugar in “tirage” stage. But it’s possible to adjust when wine is racked off its lees after 2nd fermentation.
Winemaking - High Quality
”- Slow 2nd fermentation
- Age the wine of lees for a few months (like Charmat Lungo, 9 mos)”
Charmat Lungo
Prosecco aged on lees for 9 months
Prosecco Col Fondo {aka Sui Lieviti}
”- Traditional style = lightly cloudy, dry, frizzante
- Label must state: rifermentazione in bottiglia (referm in btl)
- 2nd ferm = in bottle
- No disgorgement (contains sediment)
- Bone dry
- Crown cap”
Sui Lieviti
“on the lees” (new name for Col Fondo est. 2020)
Superiore di Cartizze DOCG {aka Cartizze}
”- High Quality
- Low yields
- Harvested by hand
- Historic, delimited single-vineyard of 108 hectares in Valdobbiadene (steep hills)
- Spumante
- Sweetness above Brut
- Bottle doesn’t say ““Prosecco”””
Rive + place name
”- ““place name”” = single commune or vineyard
- Grapes must be grown in one of 43 Rive, picked by hand, low yield, vintage must be on label”
Treviso
Can appear on label as long as the entire production process from growing to finishing is done in Treviso
Wine Business - P. DOC
”- 50% of Italy’s large sparkling wine production and led Italy to become world leader in the export of sparkling wine by volume
- 75% is Spumante; 25% is Frizzante
- Growers have small land holding so they sell to coops/merch
- Typically, Coops make large volumes of base wine that they sell to private companies to finish
- 75% export (UK, USA, GER); 25% domestic consumption
- 2019 = added Brut Nature & Extra Brut categories
- Rose not currently allowed”
Wine Business - P. DOCG
”- 60% Extra Dry; 30% Brut
- 2019 = added Extra Brut category
- 90% of production by 32 large companies
- 40% export (GER, UK, SWISS); 60% domestic consumption
- With DOCG land fully planted, continued growth depends on achieving higher prices through improving recognition as a higher quality product”
