Prosecco is popular, no doubt about it, and especially this year when it seems there’s little to sparkle about.

But there’s so much more to Italian Sparkling wine than Prosecco!

Not that there’s anything wrong with this charmat method, inexpensive, and appealing sparkler grown in Prosecco Doc and DOCG and made from the Glera grape, but all over Italy you’ll find sparkling wine made in the traditional method (Metodo Classico) and the ancient method as well as from international and local, indigenous grapes.

Bubbles in Italian sparkling wine range from frizzante to seafoam to rambunctious and brief to long lasting. Some wines, like those made in the charmat method, are intended to be enjoyed immediately as are some made in the traditional method, while others can be laid down for as long as you can imagine– or can wait!

While many of the Italian Sparkling wine houses you’ll find in the US are huge commercial operations, others, like those imported by Verovino, are small family businesses.

In this introduction to Italian Sparkling Wines Beyond Prosecco, we will focus on wines made from the latter, small family businesses doing regenerative agriculture and using sustanainble, organic, and biodnamic practices. Join me next week for Prosecco DOC and DOCG!

Below we taste and pair three white sparkling wines from three areas of northern Italy plus three red ones from Lambrusco made from the Salamino grape.

Following a morning ZOOM with VeroVinoGusto owner and importer Sheila Donahue with Bugno Martino in Lambrusco, Sheila joined Sue and I for a wine pairing dinner with those three red sparkling and three white ones.

2017 Azienda Agricola Tomisa “Ciparisso” Frizzante Grechetto Gentile IGP
ABV 13.5%; SRP $22

Azienda Agricola Tomisa uses cement to retain floral fruit, because cement breathes like wood; this is made using the autoclave method.

According to US importer Sheila Donahue, this is a wine you can age. When we tasted it, we were sure it was an orange wine — a white wine with extended skin contact. But we were wrong. The Grechetto Gentile grape has a thick skin full of tannins and flavor and it doesn’t take much contact to impart a lot of character.  Grown in various regions including Umbria and Bologna in Emilia-Romagna where it used to be known as Pignoletto. But they figured out it was the same grapes so they decided to use Pignoletto for the region and Grechetto Gentile for the grape.

We were surprised to learn from Sheila that there are “loads” of frizzante in Italy, but they are very hard to find in the States. What’s great about them is that the effervescence cuts rich cuisine.

This is a super food friendly wine — no surprise because it’s from Bologna, the food capital of Italy, says Sheila. This is the go to wine in Bologna. The wine takes its name from a huge cypress tree on the property. Sheila told us a myth about how the sky’s best friend was a deer and he mistakenly killed the deer and his penance was to become a deer. Something is definitely lost in translation! The wine gets its name from the cypress tree.

Color: The color of honey, it looks like an orange wine, a white wine made with extended skin contact.

Nose: Orange and orange pith, orange oil, lemon grass. Intense and lively.

Palate: Light fizz on the palate brings texture to the intense complex flavors of orange and Chinese Five Spice.  Acidity and texture abound but are in balance. This a great wine pair really well with food from bright salads to rich pastries. Consider this for your next brunch but don’t add orange juice — this is not a base for mimosa!

Pairing: A traditional pairing is a tortellini in a broth, or in cream –not served in red sauce like we commonly do in the US. Oysters bring out nice richness, but it was not the best pair; I would rather go with muscles or clams. Very nice with the sausage puffs. Fantastic with our caprese salad topped with fried prosciutto.

I love this wine. So interesting. So complex. Fascinating.

This producer also does a Barbera being imported by Sheila’s company that we’ll have to sample in May when we host the Italian Food Wine Travel group with that as a theme.

2013 Borgo La Gallinaccia Franciacorta
ABV 12.5%
SRP $45
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Winemaker and vineyard owner Matteo Gazziero grew up in Franciacorta but he didn’t like the Franciacortas he was finding, so he decided to make his own from his organic grapes..

Sheila emailed me to say that she “finally had the chance to speak with Matteo Gazziero this week to refresh myself about his winery and specifically his 2013 Franciacorta Brut and his winery La Gallinaccia http://www.borgolagallinaccia.it/en. The name refers to the hamlet where the winery is. Matteo is from the Franciacorta area. It was initially his father who had the initial passion of Franciacorta wines and started the farm/vineyard in 1998 and winery in 2005, initially making reds then sparkling wines, and Matteo took over the winery from him. He has a little less than 2 hectares of vineyards.” In total  she says they make 15K bottles using 100% organic grapes.  Because his wines have a lot of acidity, they age 10+ years. He also re-ferments them on the lees for longer time than Franciacorta DOCG requires. For the Brut, 18 months is the minimum but he does at least 48 months bottle fermentation on the lees. “Due to longer aging on the lees, his wines are more complex than a typical Franciacorta,” says Sheila.  “When I was in Italy I wondered why everyone wasn’t drinking Franciacorta, such a great flavor.”

This is a WOW wine for me. I love Franciacorta and this one is exceptional.

Learn more at http://www.borgolagallinaccia.it/en/franciacorta-vintage-brut-docg.  Steel fermented, min 48 mos maturation on lees, and disgorged August 2018. On the website there’s a new label and he gave a name to this wine, Farneticante, which means delirious.

We love Franciacorta! If you are going to splurge and spend $40 or $50 for a bottle of wine, you get so much more from your money when you go with Franciacorta.

Color Pale straw, delicate bubbles,

Nose: Yeast, brioche, almond crossant, very classic Franciacorta, white stone fruit, green apple, nice fruit considering the age of the wine. At times sparkling wine does not have that much nose, this one does.

Palate: Nice foam across the palate, nice acidity, lemon, a bit chalky, alluvial soil from the Dolomites, limestone soils, so delicious. Fresh fruity, an bit of toast, nice minerals, a little bit of everything. To me it tastes like a grower maker champagne as opposed to a big house champagne.

Pairing: The kumomoto oyster really paired well with the wine. great with our sausage puffs as well

Cantine Briamara “Bere Nice” Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG
ABV 12.5%

According to Sheila, the name “erbaluce” comes from a term meaning “dawn’s light” and bere means to drink.They have been making wines since 1931, and the main grape they specialize in is urbalucce. It is a very versatile grape, says Sheila. This wine is made in the traditional method with 36 months on the lees

Color: Golden, lemon gold.

Nose: Brioche, Almond crossant

Palate: Chalky texture, not much in the way of fruit, much more about the minerals.

Pairing: Oysters brought out a great deal of bubbles in the wine. A very interesting chemical reaction between the two. Lovely melon creaminess when the two are together. Great pairing with our garlic basil sausage puffs.

Three Wines from Bugno Martino 

Bugno Martino “Rosso Matilde”

2019 – Bugno Martino – Rosso Matil de – 11% alcohol – $21

Open this wine, drink it up, and enjoy that day! Serve as an appertivo, on its own, but mainly as a wine that you would have with food. It’s 80% salamina and 20% ancellotta.

Color: Dark dense I saw ruby with a garnet rim, Sue saw plum, tiny bubbles cling to the glass at the rim.

Nose: Dried cherries, herbs, fennel,

Palate: Cherry cough drop, cherry, herbs.

Pairing: Very lovely with pumpkin soup. Great with sausage puffs. Loved the herbs in the sausage, and the garlic. Salty savory crunchy bites go so well with the wine. Nice with our salad: the fizz of the wine went so well with the crunch and the fattiness in the salami crumbles.

Bugno Martino’s ciamballa

2019 Bugno Martino Ciamballa
ABV 12% 

The winery is organic, going in the direction of biodynamics, and made in the Charmat method. This wine, Ciamballa, is named after her daughter, an affectionate name for her referring to her larger belly when she was younger.

Color: Ruby garnet

Nose: Cherry and herbs, earth,

Palate: Delicate fizz, clean, fresh fruit and herbs, earth comes across on the palate as well as the nose.

Pairing: The soup was wonderful with the wine. This pairing brought out the sweetness in both the wine and the soup. The sausage puffs brings out the cherry in the wine, and the sausage puffs bring out the herbs in the sausage.

Bugno Martino Esentia 

When the wine is made in smaller batch in an artisanal way, the bubbles will last longer. I simply put a spoon in the neck of the bottle, put it in the fridge and the bubbles lasted for days!!

Color: Ruby purple rim, persistant bubbles

Nose: You can smell the yeastiness and the lees, cherries, I got more minerals, Sue felt there was more fruit, a combination of cherry and black licorice.

Palate: Dry and refreshing, tannins and chalk, the fruit is in the essence of the wine. Cherry croissant, but not sweet at all. Tart and fresh.

Pairing: Fantastic with the pumpkin soup which can be found in the region which has a tradition of serving squash in their dishes. Earth meets earth. The saltiness from the fried prosciutto works so well together. One of our great pairings. Great Thanksgiving wine. The sausage puffs brought out a nice fruit in the wine. The wine is complex and goes so nicely with food.

Bugno Martino’s 3 Lambrusco are imparted by Verovinogusto

Clearly, I loved all of these sparkling wines and I highly recommend them. I love how I enjoyed them in the glass, and I appreciate that they are small producers making wines that are sustainable.

In 2020, there’s always time for a glass of wine! Cheers!

For more sparkling wines from Italy, check out:

• Terri of Our Good Life says Beviamo alla nostra! Prosecco Superiore and Happy Christmas!
• Marcia of Joy of Wine is Celebrating the Season with Sparkling Freisa.
• Cindy of Grape Experiences writes about Pure Trentodoc – Sparkling Wines from the Mountains.
• Jill of L’Ocassion encourages us to Be in Italy for the Holidays with This Bubbly Wine Lineup.
• Here on Wien Predator we profer Beyond Prosecco? Try These Sustainable Sparkling Wines from Italy’s Erbaluce, Franciacorta, Lambrusco, Pignoletto.
• Lynn of Savor the Harvest gives us Valdobbiadene DOCG Prosecco to Make Your Holiday Sparkle – La Tordera Rive Di Guia.
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm says Cheers to 2021…2020 Don’t Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out.
• Susannah of Avvinare pours Versatile Lambrusco for the Holidays.
• Deanna of Asian Test Kitchen serves Val D’Oca Prosecco Paired with Party Starters.
• Payal of Keep the Peas offers A ‘SeeYaNever2020’ Toast with Italian Bubbly.
• Linda of My Full Wine Glass says Hello Again, Lambrusco – Everyone Deserves a Second Chance.
• Jane of Always Ravenous pairs a Frizzante with Holiday Sweet Treats.
• Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles pours Prosecco – Joyful Bubbles to “Wring” Out 2020.
• Jen of Vino Travels is ready to Sparkle up the Holidays with Prosecco Superiore.
• Martin of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog offers A Taste of 21st Century Lambrusco; Paltrinieri Lambrusco di Sorbara Radice.
• Nicole of Somm’s Table shares The Wide World of Italian Bubblies.
• Katarina of Grapevine Adventures posts A Year in Need of Sparkling Wine Surprises.
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is Celebrating with Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Amidst the Pandemic.

See you next month for red and white favorite wines from Italy! What will we focus on? Hint: I love Lagana!