This wine has a medium copper tint. It pours up frizzante in the glass. That's fun. On the nose I find tart apples and pears. The palate, however, presents very ripe red cherries, almost sweet. The wine is dry and the acidity is bracing. For a cheap little Trader Joe's rosé, this is a fairly nice wine.
Consorzio Tutela, the organization that promotes and protects the Prosecco name, explains how the method of vinification differs from other sparkling wines, which are given a secondary fermentation in the bottle through the Champagne method.
"The Martinotti method, invented by Dr. Federico Martinotti at the end of the 19th century, is used to produce spumante and frizzante sparkling wines with distinctive floral and fruity notes through a natural second fermentation process in large sealed tanks (autoclaves)." The Consorzio continues, "Dr. Antonio Carpenè, one of the founding members of the Conegliano School of Wine-making, was the first person to use this method to produce sparkling Prosecco wine with the characteristics that are so well known today. Prior to this, the wines were produced using second fermentation in the bottle."
I was given five different bottles of Prosecco to sample. I'll tackle them one by one.
Brilla! Prosecco DOC
The Brilla! website says the bubbly is targeted to "young people, millennials, party addicted." Well, don't I feel old, sitting here at home enjoying it all by myself. Maybe I should call a party addict to roll up on my place for some good ol' fashioned, newfangled cork poppin'. Maybe I'll yell for my wife to come downstairs and join me. The Brilla! Prosecco has restrained alcohol at 11% abv and a retail price of $15.
This wine has a pale yellow color and a slightly frizzante bubble situation. The nose displays citrus, green apple, pear and minerality. The palate has those flavors, along with a very nice acidity. It is an amazing aperitif and perfect for the patio.
The Brilla! website is given more to style than substance. It is a good looking layout, though. This pink Prosecco is made from a blend of Glera and Pinot Nero which are vinified in steel tanks. Alcohol hits only 11% abv and the retail price is $20.
This wine has an onion skin tint in the glass and plenty of bubbles, which dissipate quickly. The nose displays apples and strawberries with a hint of citrus. Flavors of red berries dominate the palate, while acidity is quite fresh and the finish is fruity.
This wine has a golden tint in the glass. The nose is dominated by apple and pear, with a nice floral scent. Flavors of fruit lead the way on the palate, as apples, pears and citrus are joined by a light minerality. The bubbles are frothy, but they dissipate quickly. Acidity is bracing and the sip is quite dry.
The bottle is a golden mirror, sure to be a head-turner, but also probably drives the price upward, above most other Prosecco wines. Alcohol sits at 11% abv and the retail price is $29.
This wine pours up bubbly, and the dissipating bubbles leave a straw yellow wine with a greenish tint. The nose is quite savory, yet populated with flowers and fruit. The minerality comes through on the palate, as does the significant acidity. I paired it with my veggie stir fry, and it tasted great.
The Glera grape meets Pinot Noir in this pink sparkler. The blend is 90% Glera and only 10% Pinot. Alcohol sits at 11% abv and the retail price is $15.
This wine colors up a light copper pink. The bubbles are festive, but they don't last long. The nose is quite sweet, with a strong floral element first and followed by red fruit and citrus. On the palate there is a racy acidity with a dry mouthfeel. Red berries are featured, and they last into the finish.
The grapes used in this rosé are Corvina, Sauvignon Blanc and Carménère, grown along the southern shores of Lake Garda. It is a grape combo I’ve never encountered, in rosé or anything else. Alcohol rests at an easygoing 12.5% abv and it was quite affordable, $8, at Trader Joe's.
This wine has a distinctive light copper color. Its nose is full of sweet, ripe strawberry and cherry aromas, with a bit of lemon zest minerality. The palate brings the red fruit and a strong minerality. Acidity is fresh and the finish is medium length. A pairing will be no problem with such a food friendly wine. Seafood, salads and risotto are all excellent choices.
Prosecco is too often written off as a simple, fun wine - a way to be festive without blowing a paycheck on big-name Champagne. Many big-name Proseccos unfortunately feed that fire, giving a fizz and nothing more. Le Vigne di Alice is one producer that does Prosecco right.
I bought a couple of bottles of A Fondo Valdobbiadene Prosecco a couple of years ago for a family event, solely on the strength of the name - it's my wife's family name. Here we are finally getting around to popping the cork on the final bottle.
Valdobbiadene is a town just below the Alpine-Dolomite areas of Veneto in northern Italy. The cool climate there is perfect for growing the Glera grape, the main fruit of Prosecco.
Fondo, in Italian, refers to the bottom, and in the case of this wine, it specifically references the lees, or spent yeast cells, in the bottom of the fermenter. Contact with the lees is important to give a fuller mouthfeel to the wine and more complexity. A fondo, as a phrase, translates as "deeply," according to Google. This could be the winemaker's way of saying that his wine is worth more than simply raising a toast or tossing back some frizzante. The A Fondo Prosecco hits only 11% abv in alcohol and costs about $20, if memory serves.
Here we have a Prosecco that is more frizzante than bubbly. It is also cloudy in its yellow tint. The time spent on the lees added depth and complexity that is hard to find in a Prosecco. The nose is downright funky, with a yeastiness that would turn bread green with envy. There are huge mineral notes as well and the green apple smell is almost completely overwhelmed. This wine is not sweet, as is the custom with Prosecco. It is bone dry, in fact, with no residual sugar. The palate has a gripping acidity and a savory salinity that combine to form a Prosecco that is more like a pensive study than a party favor.
This sparkling wine carries alcohol at 11% abv and it sells in many places for less than $10, making it one of the more affordable Proseccos. It is imported by Illinois-based Terlato Wines.
The Riondo Prosecco provides a nice bit of white froth at the top of the glass, along with beautiful aromas of fruit and flowers. The palate is, as promised, bone dry and features minerals, lemons and limes in the flavor profile. It has a wonderful level of acidity so it is completely fresh and refreshing. I had mine with a grilled cheese, swiss. Delicious.
Valdo was founded in 1926, in Italy's Veneto region, the town of Valdobbiadene, then bought by the Bolla family in 1938. Winemaker Gianfranco Zanon makes some really nice Prosecco there.
Valdo Marca Oro Brut Prosecco DOC
This wine was made from 100% Glera grapes, grown in the Prosecco DOC in Veneto, in the northeastern part of Italy. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks and the wine got three months of Charmat aging, one month in the bottle. Alcohol is at the typical 11% abv and the retail price is $15.
The fine bubbles sit on the straw-yellow wine and dissipate rather quickly. The nose gives aromas of apples, candied apricots and peaches. The palate offers delicious citrus, apple and mineral flavors, with a hint of custard on the finish. Delightful.
A mix of 90% Glera and 10% Pinot Noir grapes, this Prosecco Rosé has a lovely pink hue and persistent perlage, those tiny bubbles. Alcohol is no higher than 11% abv, while the retail price is $15.
This pink bubbly shows nice, fine bubbles and offers a beautiful nose of cherry, strawberry, pear, apple and a hint of citrus. The palate carries those same fruit flavors, with a bit more lemon than on the nose. The acidity is perfectly juxtaposed against the wine's sweetness. Have it with anything, but it will pair best with Mediterranean dishes.
Speri Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Sant'Urbano 2016
Speri was founded in Valpolicella in 1874 and is now run by the seventh generation of Speris, although the estate dates back to the 16th century. Valpolicella is in Verona, part of the Veneto region of Italy. The Speri organic wine is made from grapes grown in three different districts of Veneto, and each vineyard is vinified separately so that each wine is a single-vineyard effort, not just the Amarones.
The grapes in the 2016 Speri Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Sant'Urbano are 70% Corvina Veronese, 25% Rondinella, and 5% Corvinone. Winemaker Alberto Speri says the grapes were dried for four months, eliminating more than 40% of their original weight. Vinification starts in stainless steel tanks, then finishes in oak barrels. The wine was aged two years in Allier oak tonneaux, plus 18 months in Slavonian barrels and another year in the bottle.
Alcohol is a bit higher than most Italian wines - 15% abv - due to the drying of the grapes. It sells for around $50.
This dark wine offers aromas of blackberry, vanilla and cedar on the nose, along with a strong sense of minerals. Dark fruit dominates on the palate, with sweet oak spice, chalky limestone minerality and very firm tannins. Have a steak with it, or game meat dishes.
Four Brothers - Armando, Tiziano, Paolo and Massimo Castagnedi - established Tenuta Sant'Antonio in 1987, in the heart of Valpolicella. Paolo is the head winemaker, who turns the estate's Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella Croatina and Oseleta grapes into magic.
The grapes for the 2016 Tenuta Sant'Antonio Amarone della Valpolicella Campo dei Gigli came from the town of Mezzane di Sotto, in the Monti Garbi District of Verona. Those grapes are 70% Corvina and Corvinone, 20% Rondinella, 5% Croatina and 5% Oseleta. Vinification took place in oak casks, as did the three years of aging, with new oak all around. The wine's alcohol level sits at 16% abv and it retails for about $60.
This wine has a rather explosive nose - aromas of black cherry and smoke provide an ample backdrop for the balsamic notes that come later. I get a whiff of smoked meat and a bit of black olive at times, too. On the palate, the dark fruit is simply luscious, while the taste of licorice hangs around on the lengthy finish. The tannins seem fairly tame at first sip, but they sharpen up later.
The Tre Bicchieri Web Show was presented by Gambero Rosso, a Rome-based Italian wine and food magazine that was founded in 1986. It was their first-ever Master Class, which indicates that there are more planned.
The interactive event was hosted by Lorenzo Ruggeri, the wine guide's international editor, with comments along the two-hour journey from each winery's representative. This is the second installment on Now And Zin Wine to feature the wines that were tasted. We started with four amazing white wines and now move on to four of the eight reds included in the assortment.
Ercole Velenosi and Angiolina Piotti established Velenosi in 1984 in Ascoli Piceno, in the Marche region. They now make Abruzzo wines in Controguerra, to the east and across the border to the south. The first vintage from that outpost was in 2005. Angela Velenosi now sits on the board, while Filippo Carli and Luca Fioravanti work in the cellar.
Prope is made completely from Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grapes, grown in gravelly clay soil. They are destemmed and placed in stainless steel tanks for vinification, which could last as long as a month. Then, the wine is transferred into large barrels for 12 months of aging. Alcohol is 14% abv and the retail sticker should be around $15 when it is available in the U.S. market.
This wine is tinted medium dark ruby and shows purple around the rim. It smells of bright, ripe cherries and strawberries. There is not a big influence of oak. The palate is nice and fresh, with fruit in the forefront and a gentle acidity. The tannins are easy-going enough for gulping, but the wine does pair well with tandoori lamb from my favorite Indian restaurant. Ruggeri noted the flavor of dried fruit and meatiness at the end of the sip.
The Count Leopardi winery is in Numana, Marche, on Italy's Adriatic coast. The estate is owned by the Leopardi Dittajuti family and has been for some 15 centuries. Back then, one of the Leopardis was made a bishop, then killed by pagans, then made a saint. Today, Piervittorio Leopardi is dedicated to the beautiful area, the forests, the limestone massif, and to Montepulciano, Conero's traditional grape, which has been vinified by Leopardi for nearly forty years. The vineyards between Numana and Sirolo are rich in limestone and marl and cooled by the Adriatic Sea.
Leopardi's Pigmento Riserva was made by winemaker Riccardo Cotarella, completely from Montepulciano grapes. The fruit was late-harvested - in the end of October and early November - a roll of the dice that dared the fates to bring damaging rains. He lucked out. Leopardi says this elegant, full-bodied, well-balanced Riserva wine has great structure, good concentration and smooth, consistent tannins. Alcohol tips 14% abv and the price tag reads $38.
As the name implies, this wine is very dark colored - hardly any light gets through. The nose is complex and lively - black cherry, cassis, vanilla, cedar. On the palate, a bit of licorice joins the fruit profile. Acidity is brisk, but not racy. Tannins are firm, but not toothy. I would like a sausage or pork chop with it, but I would settle for a salami.
Giordano Emo Capodilista's estate is located in Veneto, in the Euganean regional park. The vineyards lie in the northern part of the area - in the almost Alpine territory of Selvazzano. More recent acquisitions are in the volcanic hills to the extreme south - in the more Mediterranean area of Baone. The two sites are not that far apart - only about six miles - but they feature very different terroir. The grapes that make up Irenèo are 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, grown along the slopes of Monte Castello, while the 6% Merlot and 4% Carmenère came from the area around Villa Emo Capodilista. The wine was aged for a year in barrique barrels, then six months in the bottle. Alcohol hits 14% abv and the retail price is $30.
This Italian Cab has a bit of Merlot and Carmenère mixed in. The color is medium dark garnet with a bit of bricking around the edge. Aromas of blackberry are joined by the smell of minerals and a whiff of smoke. The palate has a chalky note to it - the owner referred to the wine in his presentation as "salty." The tannins are manageable and the acidity is middle-of-the-road. The wine really puts me in mind of Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles, not Napa. I paired the wine successfully with grilled kielbasa and charred Brussels sprouts.
Still in Veneto, up north in Piave, owner and winemaker Alessandro di Stefani steered away from the so-called easy money of Prosecco in favor of still wines with character. The results should make everyone glad he made that choice.
The 2015 De Stefani Colli di Conegliano Rosso Stefen 1624 was made from 100% Marzemino grapes grown in clay soil which is mixed with minerals from the Southern Limestone Alps, the Dolomite Mountains. Marzemino is said to have been Mozart's favorite wine grape, and that is completely understandable. The single-vineyard grapes were destemmed and slowly fermented on the skins up to a point, when the juice was put into oak barriques, where it stayed for three years. Aging continued in the bottle for 18 months before release. Alcohol checks in at a lofty 15.5% abv. Depending on the vintage, it can be as high as 17.5% alcohol. The sticker price is up there as well, at $120.
This wine is deep, dark and delicious. The nose opens with a whiff of smoke, which leads to aromas of dried cherry, cedar and pipe tobacco. The palate shows a nice mix of fruit and savory - the cherry flavor finds a black raspberry partner. Firm tannins and bright acidity make it dance on the tongue.
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