Prosecco

Question 1

Production method for Prosecco?

Answer 1

Tank Method (charmat)

Question 2

Key grape for Prosecco?

Answer 2

Glera

Question 3

Where is Prosecco made?

Answer 3

North-east Italy

Question 4

Typical Prosecco DOC flavours?

Answer 4

Light to medium (-) intensity apple and pear aromas. Light body, medium to medium (+) acid, low to medium alcohol. Wines range from Brut to Demi-Sec, with Extra Dry being the most common style. Produced in both fully sparkling (spumante) and lightly sparkling (frizzante). Acceptable to good quality in Prosecco DOC, mid-priced to inexpensive

Question 5

Typical Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiandene DOCG flavours?

Answer 5

Medium intensity, light body, medium to medium (+) acid, low to medium alcohol. Wines range from Brut to Demi-Sec, with Extra Dry being the most common style. Produced in both fully sparkling (spumante) and lightly sparkling (frizzante). Greater definition and range of primary fruit (pear, apple, peach), good to very good in Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG. Mid-priced to premium price.

Question 6

Which year did DOC/DOCG regulations get revised? Why?

Answer 6

2009, due to huge commercial success in the category. Principal variety known as Glera, not Prosecco.

Question 7

Prosecco DOC

Answer 7

Formerly IGT covering nine provinces across Veneto and Friuli were combined and expanded from Trieste to Vicenza. Plantings now at 24,000 ha. Treviso most important area.

Question 8

Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG

Answer 8

Hilly, historic area between Conegliano and Valdobiadenne (8,100ha) in Veneto. Promoted to DOCG in 2009. Most vineyards 200-320m altitude. ‘Superiore’ can be added and is part of the name, it does not require additional alcohol levels.

Question 9

Asolo Prosecco DOCG

Answer 9

Separate DOCG of more than 2000ha in hilly area south of Valdobiadene. Within Spumante category, ‘Superiore’ may be added.

Question 10

Climate of Prosecco DOC

Answer 10

Warm and moderately continental, moderate rainfall. Flat plain is affected by moist air and fog from rivers. Sprays are used to control disease.

Question 11

Climate of Conegliano Valdobbiadene and Asolo DOCGs

Answer 11

Hillier areas, cooling influence from altitude and higher diurnal temperature ranges, making for longer, slower ripening, higher acidity and more intense fruit flavours.

Question 12

Glera grape characteristics

Answer 12

Vigorous, semi-aromatic, capable of high yields. Susceptible to millerandage, powdery and downy mildew, not good with drought in summer and the grapevine yellows. First two buds do not bear much fruit, the vine has to be trained long, typically on vertical trellising systems.

Question 13

Vine training in Prosecco?

Answer 13

Sylvoz, double-arched cane and single or double guyot

Question 14

Sylvoz

Answer 14

Glera grape vine training. High cordon system with shoots that hang downwards. Well-suited to high-vigour sites. Inexpensive to create, minimises winter pruning and machine harvest suitable. Cordon height provides some frost protection. Can encourage over-cropping, requires careful monitoring and trimming of canopy, difficult to distribute clusters evenly.

Question 15

Double Arched Cane

Answer 15

A form of replacement cane pruning bent into arches. Improves evenness of growth and fruitfulness, while increasing ventilation in canopy. Very common on hillsides of Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG. Individual branches must be tied on every plant and care must be taken to open canopy with repeated shoot thinning.

Question 16

Guyot

Answer 16

Training used on flatter land, best for machine harvesting and work

Question 17

Cartizze, Rive and sui lieviti are what?

Answer 17

Special categories within Prosecco

Question 18

Prosecco winemaking steps

Answer 18

Hand or machine harvest, whole bunch or de-stemming and whole berry pressing if hand harvested. 15-20 day ferment for base wine at 18c. Malo is blocked. Second ferment takes 4 weeks at 12-15c, wines are chilled, filtered and bottled. Typically no sweetness adjustment is made as tirage is calculated for both sweetness and co2 requirements. 2014 brought in sweetness adjustment allowances.

Question 19

What is Charmat lungo?

Answer 19

Keeping wine in contact with lees for at least nine months. Lees are agitated with an insert into the tank.

Question 20

Col Fondo/sui lieviti

Answer 20

Traditional style, producing lightly cloudy wines. Rifermenazione in bottiglia (ancestral method) must appear on bottle. Wine is left undisgorged and bone dry. Only Conegliano Valdobbiadene requires wines to be called sui lieviti (on the lees).

Question 21

Tranquillo

Answer 21

A small amount of wine is made this way. Still wine. (translates to quiet)

Question 22

Yield for Prosecco DOC

Answer 22

125 hL/ha

Question 23

Yields for Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG

Answer 23

94.5 hL/ha
90 hL/ha if with a mention of Rive
85 hL/ha if Superiore di Cartizzi DOCG or Cartizzi

Question 24

Yields for Asolo Prosecco DOCG

Answer 24

94.5 hL/Ha

Question 25

Minimum ageing requirements?

Answer 25

Niente (nothing). Aim is to express primary fruit. If labelled with a vintage, wine must be 85% stated year.

Question 26

Rive + place name

Answer 26

Rive is a local word meaning the slope of a steep hill, followed by a place name (eg Rive di Soglio), name being a single commune or vineyard. Must be grown in one of the 43 Rive, hand harvested at lower yields and vintage stated.

Question 27

Superiore di Cartizzi DOCG or Cartizzi DOCG

Answer 27

Historic, delimited single-vineyard of 108 hectares located in Voldobiaddene Cartizze DOCG. Vintage indication is only required on Rive wines and sui lieviti

Question 28

How much did Asolo Prosecco production expand between 2013 and 2020?

Answer 28

2013 to 2020 saw a production growth from one million bottles to 18.7 million bottles

Question 29

Prosecco production levels as of 2020

Answer 29

500 million bottles, 80% spumante white wine, 17% frizzante semi-sparkling, 3% rosé sparkling

Question 30

Average vineyard holdings for Prosecco growers?

Answer 30

2.5ha

Question 31

How many growers vs producers for Prosecco grapes?

Answer 31

11,600 growers, 1200 producers of base wine, 350 makers of sparkling wine

Question 32

Key producers

Answer 32

Zonin

Question 33

Main export markets for prosecco

Answer 33

UK, USA & Germany

Question 34

Export percentage for Prosecco

Answer 34

78%, only 22% domestic consumed

Question 35

When was Prosecco Spumante Rosé introduced?

Answer 35

2020 - Glera, with up to 20% Pinot Noir made as red wine. Can only be made as Brut Nature to Extra Dry.

Question 36

Common style for Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG?

Answer 36

Extra Dry 60%, Brut 30%. Extra Brut (0-6g/L) introduced in 2019