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Edited by Gianluca Castellano, professional sommelier. Collaborates with the Italian Sommelier Association on the production of Mangiavino magazine and Vitae, the guide to the wines of Italy .
Italy is a mosaic of indigenous grape varieties, a unique heritage in the world. Some of these grape varieties also prove amazing in sparkling wine making, giving surprising bubbles full of character. From Prosecco’s famous Glera, a symbol of Veneto conviviality, to the Verdicchio from the Marche region, capable of expressing great elegance and longevity even in the classic method version, to the Sicilian Catarratto, which with its warm and enveloping notes of pastry wins you over at the first sip. Ready for this journey?
Valdobbiadene is an extraordinary land that has been devoted to viticulture for centuries and has been able to conquer the world with a wine that is as beloved as it is representative of the territory.
Small vineyards arranged on narrow grassy terraces called ciglioni, gentle hill ridges, medieval villages, forests and crops: a landscape mosaic of rare beauty, sculpted over the centuries by the hand of man, who has been able to shape nature with respect and harmony. The result is a checkerboard landscape, where rows of vines alternate in dizzying slopes, parallel or perpendicular to the ridge.
We are in the province of Treviso, Veneto. The first viticultural boundaries were drawn as early as the 1930s, but the area’s winemaking tradition has its roots much further back. After the barbarian invasions, it was in the Middle Ages that vine cultivation revived, thanks to the impetus of monasteries and local nobility.
A fundamental shift occurred in 1868, with Antonio Carpenè’s founding of the Società Enologica Trevigiana, which started a true winemaking revolution. Soon after, in 1876, the Scuola Enologica di Conegliano, the first specialized academy in Italy, was also born.
On a geological level, the hills of Valdobbiadene are not glacial or moraine in origin, as is often believed, but tectonic: ancient deposits of loose materials that, as a result of endogenous thrusts, were transformed into rocks and uplifted. At the same time, the erosive action of weathering has sculpted the present hillside morphologies.
The climate is temperate, with well-defined seasons and adequate rainfall. During the ripening phase of the berries, cool currents coming down from the foothills of the Alps and thermal inversion phenomena generate important temperature fluctuations, favoring the aromatic development of the grapes.
The productive heart of the area is the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG appellation, recognized in 2009. Within it are 43 Rive, or particularly steep and difficult-to-work vineyards, each with distinctive soil, exposure and microclimate.
In the Rive, the yield per hectare is contained between 80 and 120 quintals, the grapes are harvested exclusively by hand, and the vintage is mandatory on the label.
Valdobbiadene has been able to go “beyond Prosecco” as a simple aperitif wine, demonstrating versatility, territoriality and character. The best expressions of this land today manage to combine fragrance and aromatic finesse with balance and flavor, restoring in the glass the most authentic soul of its heroic hills, now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the craggy heart of the Prosecco Hills, in Combai, one of the 43 recognized “Rive,” Trèser Brut is born. The fruit of heroic viticulture, where each bunch is hand-picked on impervious terraces, this sparkling wine conquers with its creaminess, vivacity and a fruity delicacy.
Perfect for aperitifs, it casually accompanies Venetian cicchetti, stuffed breads, cured meats, as well as delicate dishes such as steamed fish and eggs. A limited production, where quality always wins over quantity.
Let us now descend to central Italy, to Le Marche, where Verdicchio is one of the most important white grape varieties in Italy.
The Marche region is unanimously recognized as its land of choice, although the grape variety’s origins are still debated. The most widely accepted hypothesis links it to the arrival of settlers from the Veneto who were called to repopulate the region after a devastating plague epidemic.
The recent history of Verdicchio is linked to numerous interpretations, even outside the borders of the Marche region, but there is no doubt that its highest expression is realized in Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi DOC.
The latter originates exclusively in the hilly areas in the center of the province of Ancona and in a limited portion of that of Macerata.
The production area looks like a real natural amphitheater: the hills, facing the sea, breathe its breezes and let its scents permeate, creating a unique microclimate.
Acting as a counterbalance to the maritime vocation is the imposing presence of the Marche Pre-Apennines, crossed by the Esino River and dotted with no less than 24 “Castles,” authentic historic-landscape icons that imprint the wine with a strong territorial connotation.
Although Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi is famous in its still version, in recent decades it has been able to carve out a distinct identity as a sparkling wine as well, thanks to the inherent characteristics of the grape variety.
Sparkling wine making is a relatively recent phenomenon, developed during the twentieth century and particularly between the 1960s and 1970s, with the first experiments conducted through the Charmat method (in an autoclave), which was later joined by the use of the more prized metodo classico (refermentation in the bottle).
Its high acidity, marked structure and natural sapidity make Verdicchio particularly suitable for sparkling wine, both in brut and pas dosé versions.
Although not yet well known internationally, Verdicchio spumante is gaining increasing appreciation among sommeliers and enthusiasts, who recognize its quality and uniqueness.
The use of a strongly identifying indigenous grape variety gives these sparkling wines a well-defined personality, capable of telling the story of the territory with authenticity, freshness and style.
Many people know that Champagne was created in the second half of the 17th century by Dom Perignon, a Benedictine monk from Hautvillers. Few know, however, that in 1622, that is, 46 years before the French abbot, the Fabrianese physician Francesco Scacchi had introduced the concept of bottle refermentation in a work entitled “De salubri potu disertatio.” In this work the Fabrianese physician is told about natural refermentation in the bottle, using whites from the Marche region.
Sparkling wine made by the “Scacchi Method” differs from Champagne and other domestic and foreign Classic Method products in that it uses the same sugars as the grape must to trigger refermentation in the bottle instead of the usual addition of liqueur de tirage.
A Verdicchio metodo classico that surprises with its saline elegance, floral notes of elderflower and a perfectly balanced citrus freshness. Musa Brut was born in Cingoli, in the heart of the Marche region, on the slopes of Mount San Vicino, in a terroir suspended between sea and mountain.
The SQNPI-certified estate practices integrated pest management and believes in harmonious viticulture. We pair it with oysters, raw seafood, baked salmon, as well as passatelli and carbonara. Yes, you read that right.
The history of sparkling wine in Sicily is less ancient than that of regions such as Piedmont or Lombardy, but it is deeply fascinating because it interweaves the island’s winemaking tradition with the desire for innovation and rediscovery of the territory. The production of sparkling wine in Sicily took shape mainly in the last decades of the 20th century, although the foundations had already been laid with the enhancement of some native grapes. The island has a millennial wine-making tradition, dating back to the Greeks and Phoenicians, but for centuries it was linked mainly to the production of fortified wines , such as Marsala and still blending wines, very alcoholic and structured, used to reinforce wines from northern Europe.
The idea of making sparkling wine in Sicily was born with a reappraisal of the territory and its indigenous grapes, which took hold starting in the 1980s and 1990s, when Sicilian viticulture began to focus on quality and no longer just quantity.
In the 1990s, some wineries began experimenting with sparkling wine making, both Charmat and classic methods, using grapes such as Catarratto, Grillo, Inzolia, Nero d’Avola (vinified in white or rosé) and Carricante (particularly on Etna)
Among the first areas to emerge are Etna, with its cool altitudes and volcanic soils, and the hinterland of Palermo, where some pioneering companies have also experimented with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The sparkling wines of the Sicilian winery Vaccaro are distinguished by several aspects that reflect their dedication to quality and enhancement of the territory.
Vaccaro produces its Metodo Classico millesimato Sicilia DOC 2021 using only Catarratto grapes. The grapes come from a historic vineyard located near the winery’s center in Salaparuta, consisting of 14 rows with 1,693 vines over 35 years old.
The result is a sparkling wine with a straw color with golden reflections and a very fine perlage. Notes of citrus-scented small pastries emerge on the nose, while the palate is ample and creamy, with pleasant citrus returns.
Try it with linguine with scampi, lamb, grilled fish. But also on its own, to best end the day, watching the sunset in total relaxation.
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