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Grape
varieties in Piedmont produce sparkling wines which are often softer, more
aromatic and fruitier than French wines.
More information ?
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© Kerrie Barker 2007
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The Italian word for
sparkling wines is spumante. Sparkling wines are made by
adding sugar and selected yeasts to a still white base wine to cause a secondary
fermentation which takes place within a closed container.
This secondary
fermentation produces more alcohol - perhaps 1 or 2% - whilst the carbon
dioxide produced in the process cannot escape and is dissolved. When the
bottle is opened at table, the release of pressure enables the carbon
dioxide to escape in a stream of bubbles, causing the wine to 'sparkle'
pleasantly.
Originally, the closed container used for
the secondary fermentation was the bottle itself. This is a slow process, but still the
method used to make the some of the most prestigious sparkling wines.
Bottled spumantes may take two years to develop fully.
Dom Perignon, a
French Benedictine monk, is credited with perfecting the method for
producing champagne in France around 1679,
and indeed, glass bottles able to withstand strong pressures are unlikely to
have been available much before that date. In Italy, Gancia of
Canelli were
first to succeed in making spumante from local moscato grapes in 1865.
The alternative method of using tanks (known
as autoclaves) as containers was
developed later; it is less complicated and quicker, but it is also a
preferable process to use to make aromatic wines which retain a taste of
fruit. The secondary fermentation takes days rather than months and
temperatures are carefully controlled. After this, the wines are
usually left to mellow for a period both before and after bottling.
In this market, locally produced Asti, and Prosecco (from the Veneto area), lead the world.
Desirable characteristics are a fine, creamy foam when poured, and a persistant perlage or fizz.
The laws of physics and chemistry are of course international, but there
are significant differences between the sparkling wines of (say) France and
Italy. First of all, the grape varieties used are different, and Italian spumantes also differ from their French
counterparts because of the nature of the terroir where these grapes
are grown.
Sweet or dry
Sparkling wines are usually
labelled by reference to their sweetness, and this is measured by the number
of grams of sugar per litre of wine, the most common being:-
"Brut"
(less than 15)
"Sec"
(15 - 35)
"Dolce"
(more than 50)
Piedmontese DOC/G sparkling wines
The DOC/G sparkling wines are
tend to be made from
native moscato, brachetto or malvasia grapes although innovative producers are
also making local use of the other constituent grapes of champagne, such as
chardonnay or pinot nero, in producing sparkling chardonnays and rosé
sparkling wines, where the blush is added by initial contact with the skins
of the pinot nero grapes.
Accompaniments
Dry spumante was traditionally a celebration
drink; today, it is as likely to be served as an aperiitif, because its
versatility best accompanies the breadth of flavours encountered with hors
d'oevres (either hot or cold).
The sweeter aromatic spumantes are mostly taken
with fruit or dessert, although they can also accompany main courses such as fish, asparagus,
hams or salami.
With an alcohol content of just 5%, Moscato
d'Asti DOCG is a wine that the whole family can enjoy.
Accompanied wine tasting
If you would like to be
accompanied on a visit direct to a local producer for a tasting of a
selection of a variety of Italian sparkling wines, please contact us for
more information.
E mail:
kerrie@anitalianadventure.co.uk
0039 0141 851 154
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