To a lesser extent their traditional method cohorts like Cava (Spain), Franciacorta Spumante (Italy) and Winzersekt (Germany) using the same Méthode Champenoise known as Traditional Method outside the region, are facing a similar fate.
Rise of other bubbles
The rise of these “other” bubbles has required a great deal of reorientation on the part of producers and consumers. For generations, they suffered a long-rooted and self-inflicted inferiority complex and consumer cynicism rooted in the cheap, steel-tanks-and-temperature-controlled plonk that flooded the market in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Few who lived through that age can forget names like Cold Duck, Asti Spumante and Riunite Lambrusco (for a generation the biggest brand in the US market), which played to the masses, typically through generous sweetness.
Even Prosecco suffered a humble reputation for decades, particularly as Prosecco Frizzante with lower pressure in the bottle than Prosecco Spumante (a category invented in order to avoid Germany’s sparkling wine tax).
There are good reasons why at least one entire generation came to view anything but Champagne as off-brand substitute bubblies. The recent strong growth of Prosecco, however, reflects the mood of consumers focused much less on the quality than curiosity. In 2013, Prosecco and Italian sparkling wines were recognized as the best-selling sparkling wines in the world by volume, surpassing even Champagne.
Prosecco, with it cheaper Charmat Method second fermentation in the tank instead of the bottle in the case of champagnes, made it clearly competitive, more reliable and fresh- the buzzword of modern wines. But there is a dark side too, with the reliability achieving no more than what we might politely call neutrality, or mediocrity if less generous.
Consumers began treating the Prosecco category itself as a brand —Mionetto (Hall, Stand F21) is perhaps a rare example of a Prosecco with a genuine brand identity in multiple markets; it is considered to be the biggest selling brand in the USA, though in India, the import by Hi Spirits was not so successful for this world famous brand produced in the winery in Valdobbiadene in the Prosecco docg area. Sold to the German sparkling wine giant Henkell in 2008, it is well worth a visit at their Stand. (Freixenet, the well-known Cava producer also became a part of the Henkell Empire in 2018).
Yet somehow these ‘tiny bubbles’ managed to change their own narrative. Prosecco gained its DOC status in 2009, and just 10 years later the Prosecco hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene were declared a UNESCO world heritage site, also gaining DOCG status. In the UK, Prosecco’s second largest global market, sales of the Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG recorded the strongest growth in the market, surging by 38% in value and 35% in volume between 2016 and 2017.
When origin matters, quality follows. “The real value of DOCG is the fact of being really different and recognizable,” says export sales manager Mara Ghirardi of L’Antica Quercia (Hall 15, Stand F 21), “We believe that consumers no longer want a standard Prosecco, but are looking for original and unique varieties.” In the Superiore and Rive (specific single vineyards designations), a handful of producers are also experimenting with partial barrel maturation and extended lees contact in an effort to marry classic Prosecco freshness with a true taste of place.
The Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Cinqueanni (Five Years) from Ruggeri (Hall 13, Stand C 43)), for example, is a limited release, single vintage, single old-vine vineyard, Charmat method Prosecco with 46 months on the lees. Unlike many of its Champenoise cousins, the lees enhance the distinctive Prosecco character rather than distract from it: juicy and lean, supple but never sweet. And what sets it apart are indeed the tiny bubbles. A fine, elegant bead twinkling like Christmas lights in the glass, more Van Gogh ‘Starry Night’ than Coco Chanel’s pearls. And at €35.00 a bottle the price is serious enough to make you focus on the wine.
With sparkling wines accounting for 10% of total global wine sales, there is an increasingly widespread willingness to embrace a range of effervescent experiences on their own merits.
Near Bologna, the steep limestone hills in the shadow of the Apennines Mountains, about 640 ha of vineyards produce around 1 million bottles per year of Colli Bolognese Pignoletto DOCG (Hall 15, Stand E 61) from the Grechetto Gentile grape variety. These Charmat produced wines reflect the stark, stony fissures dominating the landscape. They are savory, floral and mineral-driven, with a delicate fruitiness, and local producers such as Tenuta La Riva (Hall 15, Stand E 61) are like their Prosecco cousins experimenting with extended lees contact and barrel aging to enhance complexity and cellarability.
Pét Nat
On the other end of the spectrum, far away from large steel tanks and clarion fruits, is Pétillant Naturel (Pét Nat)or “méthode ancestrale.” These slightly fizzy, affordable bottles are the OG traditional method. Long before there were ice baths and filters for modern champagne method production, there was Pét Nat. The idea is as simple as it is inexpensive: bottle a partially fermented wine that hasn’t been stabilized under a crown cork. Once the fermentation resumes, it releases carbon dioxide into the bottle. The trapped CO2 provides a gentle fizz at about 2.5-3 bar of pressure. When it finishes there is often a small grace note of residual sugar and a sheen of loose sediment remaining in the bottle. A successful Pét Nat requires equal parts skill and faith on the part of the winemaker in order to carefully wrangle the unstable wine to a point of stability.
Stunning examples can be found today in the southern part of Beaujolais and the Montlouis -sur-Loire AOP of the Loire Valley where Pétillant Originel can be legally written on the label. Look to Austria and Germany, countries known for valuing authenticity, patience and transparency. Seek out the wines of Weingut Melsheimer (Hall 13, Stand D 70), or further south in the winegrowing region of Rheinhessen check out the organic production of Weingut Gysler (Hall 13, Stand D 70) and Weingut Riffel (Hall 13, Stand C 80).
Original Prosecco
And not to forget is the original Prosecco, before tanks and controlled fermentations. Based in Asolo, Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, Col Fondo (“sui lieviti”) is Prosecco méthode ancestrale- a dry, cloudy, complex and often cellarable Glera bubbles that fell out of favor in the 1980s when demand rose for crisp, clean and above all else consistent Prosecco..
Whatever the origin, Pét Nat bottles are natural, funky, and unpredictable. They reveal juicy sometimes muddy, always dynamic aromas that tend toward the nutty and the floral. They are approachable wines to drink young; most do not recommend over 3-4 years of aging. They are also as risky for the consumer as they are for the winemaker, as the bottle differentiation is enormous. However, it is this very inconsistency that an earlier generation might have considered a flaw but today it is the hallmarks of honesty and authenticity.
Méthode Champenoise was developed in part as a technique to compensate for unripe grapes in Champagne. Yet according to the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CVIC) average temperatures in the region have risen by 1.1⁰C over the past 30 years. Achieving ripeness is no longer a problem. In fact, Champagne growers today are seeking ways to preserve freshness as the wines grow heavier and riper each year.
So traditional or Charmat, big or tiny, when it comes to bubbles, it appears, size really doesn’t matter today, after all.
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Subhash Arora
The Article has been reproduced based on an Article on ‘tiny bubbles’ by Prowein. Stands recommended are representative of the product only and by the original authors -editor