The Inside Story from Italian Wine Merchants

Prosecco Earns its Place

Looking at the new DOC and DOCG

Perhaps more than other wines that have successfully established their identities, Prosecco is a wine in transition. While it has been around since ancient Rome, the wine is finally achieving the status its pedigree and history demand.  Effective April 1, 2010, the term “Prosecco” refers to a specific place: Veneto and parts of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the northeastern corner of Italy. These two regions, along with nine other specific provinces, geographically define the current Prosecco DOC. While Prosecco is actually the name of a town near the city of Trieste in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the wine’s major grape, formerly known as Prosecco, will now go by the ancient name of Glera, a name unfamiliar even to the people within the region.  However, only the name has changed; Italian Prosecco has always been made with Glera, though lesser known varieties have figured into the wine’s composition in rather negligible amounts over time.

The incorporation of the new DOCG classification (Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore) ensures that wines from the two most prominent zones will face stricter controls and be given the highest guarantee. Comprised of fifteen communes (or townships), the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene zone is a hilly region with very steep slopes that require vineyard operations to be performed by hand, a practice that has been in place for over three centuries. In addition to the general designation, wines that derive from a single hillside will, in conjunction with standard DOCG labeling, include the term rive, which refers to the finest vineyards and those receiving favorable exposure.

According to Decanter, these “new regulations will also regulate yield for both the new DOC and DOCG zones should be reduced. The DOC will show the most drastic decrease – from the current 180hl/ha to 126hl/ha. There will also be a small reduction in yields in the DOCG zone, from 95hl/ha to 90hl/ha.”

What all this tech talk means for wine consumers is that we can expect a rise in the quality of Prosecco—that’s good news for us. Full of refreshing acidity, pleasant aromatics and delicate flavors of peach and green apple, Prosecco is a perfect sparkler for summer. And its reasonable price point and easy-drinking nature doesn’t hurt, either. However, because of these recent changes, Prosecco may become a more serious wine.

While Prosecco hasn’t carried the same prestige or fastidious production as Champagne— where secondary fermentation is carried out in bottle (méthode champenoise) as opposed to stainless steel tanks (the charmat method)—with the spanky new DOC/G areas and the accompanying raising of standards, it has a reason to take itself more seriously—even if it remains a seriously fun wine to drink!

La Vie en Rosé

Summertime Wines

My favorite time of year is here: Rosé season is finally upon us. I look forward to this moment every year—the warm weather, the picnics, the general improvement of everyone’s mood; and the deliciously refreshing, happy pink-colored wines. Still, I find myself getting a little sad for Rosé, because so many people snicker at it, pooh-pooh its inclusion on a wine list or wrongfully refer to all pink-colored wines as “white zinfandel.” I am a proud lover of Rosé. Don’t judge me!

Given its pleasure potential, Rosé is extremely underrated. Part of the low opinion of Rosé stems from the misconception that all pink-hued wine is cheap, mass-produced and thoughtless. This, in fact, is not true. Today, there is a vast array of quality Rosé produced throughout the Old and New Worlds. France’s warmer, southern regions produce and consume a large amount of Rosé, most often made of the Grenache and Cinsault grapes and crafted particularly in Provence, Southern Rhône, the Languedoc DOC and Roussillon. Spain is another major player on the Rosé field, where it’s known as Rosado (lighter pink versions) or Clarete for (for darker pink or light reds). Pink wines are called Rosato in Italy, and some of my favorite are made from the Nebbiolo grape. Recently, I tasted a very interesting Pinot Noir Rosé from Oregon.

The most common method of making Rosé wines is to use a short maceration of the juice and the skins of dark-skinned grapes after crushing. Producers macerate just long enough to extract the color. The juice and the skins are then separated by draining or pressing, and the juice is then fermented in the same fashion as white wine.

Much of the bad press surrounding Rosé stems from a time when white wines reigned supreme, and the practice of inserting the descriptive word “white” before or after the name of darker-skinned grape names (such as in White Zinfandel or Cabernet Blanc) gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s in California. It’s all about the marketing, and people thought that giving these pink-colored wines jazzier names would help them hold their heads high alongside the other noble wines of the world. Fortunately, marketing trends change, and producers are once again embracing the proper nomenclature for these wines: Rosé.

I’ll be honest. I’m out for Rosé converts. I encourage you to embrace Rosé during this season that lends itself so perfectly to consuming this wine. It’s also worth noting that a lot of good Rosé on the market is affordable, and it’ll soon be appearing on shelves all over the place. Sip a glass or three on a hot summer day. I defy you to tell me that there’s not a more pleasant experience under the sun.