Break out the bubbly or, “what’s in my glass?”

Celebrating? Break out the bubbly! If you’re in France, that will no doubt be champagne, but if you’re in Italy, do you really know what’s in your glass, and do you know how to ask for what you want?

The generic word for sparkling wine is “spumante” in Italian, but asking for a glass of spumante is no way of guaranteeing what the barman will pour for you. It depends on where you are in Italy, and also the quality of the bar, but generally speaking, ask for a spumante and you will end up with either Prosecco, or champagne style Spumante Metodo Classico, and the two are really quite different.

Notice that I say “champagne style” – the word “champagne” may only be used within the EU to designate sparkling wines from the champagne region in the northeast of France (think Dom Perignon, Moët&Chandon,Veuve Clicquot, and so on). Outside of that specific area, it is not technically “champagne” but rather a “champagne style sparkling wine”. In Italy, the official designation is spumante metodo classico, or in the Trentino region, “spumante metodo classico Trento DOC”. Quite a mouthful to order, but worth learning as that will get you a mouthful (or rather, a glassful) of Trentino’s superb champagne style bubbly as opposed to Prosecco, a completely different experience, or worse yet, one of the many crass commercial bubblies that proliferate supermarkets and seedy bars throughout Italy. You may also see the term talento on Trentino spumante, which means the same as the more ubiquitous metodo classico.

But what exactly is metodo classico? What’s in that glass???

Two excellent metodo classico Trento DOC spumpantes

Like champagne, Trento DOC generally starts with a base wine of chardonnay with a small percentage of pinot noir. Pinot noir (pinot nero in Italian) is of course a red wine, but in this case it is vinificato in bianco – the grapes are quickly and gently pressed with minimum contact time with the grape skins. All grape juice is actually quite colourless – red wines are produced from red grapes, but the actual colour of the wine comes from a prolonged fermentation time in contact with the dark grape skins. But back to our spumante – chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. Once the base wine is ready, selected yeasts and sugar are added and the wine is rebottled to undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle.

Yeast + sugar = alcohol and carbon dioxide. In the case of Trento DOC metodo classico, the secondary fermentation takes place over a span of 15 months minimum (36 months or longer for a riserva). During this time, the yeast consumes the sugar, and complex flavours develop along with a fine perlage (bubbles) and the distinct note of yeast as a delicate secondary aroma.

However, re-fermentation in the bottle leads to dead yeast cells in the bottom of the bottle, which would not be particularly nice to find in your glass. For this reason, a special plastic cork is used, and the bottles are rotated and tilted “bottoms up” during the re-fermentation. This process takes the French name, remuage, and leads to the dead yeast cells becoming trapped in the special plastic cork. At the end of the maturation period, this stopper – and the spent yeast – is removed (dégorgement), a small amount of liqueur d’expedition is added to make up for the lost volume, and the bottle is re-corked with the typical mushroom-shaped cork, wire cage and foil.

This process is called the sboccatura and ideally, a spumante or champagne should be drunk within a year or two of the sboccatura date (given on the label for most quality spumantes). Yes, that’s right – if you come into the possession of a good spumante metodo classico, DRINK IT NOW! Quality spumante can age wonderfully “on the lees” but after the sboccatura, it should be enjoyed within two years – it will not improve by cellaring. Frankly, I wouldn’t buy a metodo classico if the bottle didn’t indicate the sboccatura date.

Note the sboccatura date – drink within two years! Letrari always provides a wealth of information on the label. Visit their website

Well, you can see why champagne and spumante metodo classico Trento DOC can at times be a little expensive, especially Millesimato (only containing grapes from one specific year) and Riserva spumante. Fortunately there are also more commercial varieties available below at around €10/bottle where costs are kept low by large scale production, and mechanical remuage and dégorgement. Anything labeled Spumante Metodo Classico Trento DOC Brut should be interesting; try a Millesimato or Riserva when you’re with special friends who will appreciate it.

Now, if you’re in the Veneto or Friuli regions of Italy (Vicenza, Verona, Treviso, Venice…) you are near the Prosecco production area and quite naturally, asking for a glass of bubbly should result in some good Prosecco. Being a sparkling wine, it is also a “spumante” so unless you specify, outside of the Veneto you might get either Prosecco or metodo classico when you simply ask for a glass of spumante.

Prosecco is made from prosecco variety grapes (also called “glera”), which are considered semi-aromatic. Here’s the catch – in order to preserve this delicate aroma, the wine is made quite quickly, and generally speaking, higher levels of sulphites are used in order to protect the wine, bad news if you are sensitive to sulphites. Consumption of sulphites in wine is generally considered harmless, except in people who lack the bodily enzymes to break them down during digestion. Unfortunately, there are also a large variety of inexpensive quaffing proseccos available to the unknowing public, and these have even higher sulphite levels. If you’re drinking spumante at €2/glass, sorry, but that’s probably what you’re getting. Fine if you actually like it or just want a cheap buzz – hey, I’m not judging – but don’t say I didn’t tell you so when the roaring headache comes calling. Unfortunately, a higher price tag doesn’t always guarantee higher quality, so be careful what you ask for, frequent a good bar, or take a look at the bottle before you confirm your drink order.

Very clear labelling on this bottle of Prosecco. Note the lower alcohol compared to a spumante metodo classico, only 11,5%

But back to Prosecco. It is made from Prosecco grapes, as we’ve said, and like metodo classico, undergoes a primary fermentation to create a base wine. It then, too, undergoes a secondary fermentation, but generally this happens in a large autoclave, not in the bottle (this process is known as the Charmat method). Remember, the goal here is to preserve the delicate primary aroma from the Prosecco grapes, not to develop a yeasty champagne-style secondary aroma. The resulting wine is also slightly lower in alcohol than spumante metodo classico, typically 11 or 11,5 percent alcohol. The perlage (bubbles) in the average Prosecco tends to be less fine and less persistent than in the average metodo classico. This is not a defect, just a result of the method used for secondary fermentation.

Hunt carefully and you will in fact be able to find Prosecco that has undergone secondary fermentation in the bottle. These tend to be a niche market production and are made in limited quantities. They do not undergo a “sboccatura” process, so the wine in the bottle you buy will have spent yeast at the bottom – just be careful not to agitate it when pouring. Prosecco may also be made as a frizzante wine (fizzy, so less zing than a sparkling/spumante version), or as a still wine (no bubbles at all).

If you’re looking for a glass of high quality Prosecco, try asking for a Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG, made with grapes from a small area in the heart of the Prosecco region. Prosecco is also good to have on hand for making cocktails, where it is the prime ingredient in an authentic spritz, hugo or Bellini.

A final note – spumante can also refer to sweet bubbly dessert wine, most notably Asti Spumante from Piedmont. This is made from the aromatic moscato grape (being both aromatic and low alcohol, around 6 percent, it will tend to have a comparatively high level of sulfites).

Please drink responsibly – by which I mean do not waste a good metodo classico or Prosecco by serving it with dessert! Pairing a dry spumante with something sweet will cause the wine to seem harsh and acidic, and who wants that? Have the dry spumante before and during your meal, and break out a sweet dessert wine to accompany dessert. But more on that in a future article…

In any case, enjoy your glass of bubbly, perhaps even more now that you know what’s in your glass!

13 comments

  • Fascinating reading! I’ll never look at a glass of Italian bubbly in the same way again! I feel lucky to live in the Trentino DOC area so that I can enjoy plenty of opportunities for ‘degustazione!’

  • Nunzi

    I love this your new web site.
    I wish you will taste Murgo Brut Rose ? a metodo classico Sicilian spumante i drank all my summer?
    You’ll love it too.

  • Robin

    Very interesting and informative, Em. Love the idea of the site!

  • annalisa

    Super Emily! You always surprise me?

  • Jane

    Very informative. Now I know why I hate prosecco but like decent champagne and Trento doc. People in the UK have gone nuts over prosecco of late and are paying well over the odds for what is basically paint stripper! I’d rather have a decent dry white than cheap fizz any day! Nice blog!

  • Cathryn Hoffman

    Excellent article. I am not as versed in my Italian wines as I am with French and so look forward to learning more. Also am anticipating articles on regional foods and recipes!
    Thank you for this, very exciting.

  • Marilyn

    I have to echo Annalisa, Emily! What will you come up with next? Love the pictures from your terrace. Must say, too, being the philistine that I am, I love stopping at a bar (say in Riva) and ordering a “flute”. Maybe it will be lower quality prosecco, but to this Canadian it seems so simple yet almost elegant ?

  • Christy

    Very informative, Ems! You’ve explained it to me before but eventually I forget this or that detail. Now I have it in writing!
    It certainly makes me want to go out and order a wonderful glass of bubbly…but it’s 13 C and feels like winter is quickly approaching!

  • Margaret Lyons

    I really enjoyed this Emily. Looking forward to all your future wine-writings. Will visit the LCBO much better “armed”!!!

    • Emily

      Glad you enjoyed it. The LCBO is, sadly, part of the problem. They seem to thrive on incomplete information and at times misinformation. But i’ll see what I can do to rectify this in future posts!

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