FML France is the founder of the bubblies, and Champagne remains the mother of the harem of crémants, but sheesh, their Italian sister-wives are doing fine work.
I can make all those analogies ’cause I’m a women;)
Also, I’m not covering every sparkling made in Italy in this, just this quartet (for some reason, I wanted to call it a quatrude, but spellcheck was like, nah, think again, bish). This is not exhaustive, but it is a set of higher-quality sparklers that reminded me that Italy does serious effervecent business.
To wit:
Wowwwww wowow 2019 Enrico Serafino “Oudeis” Alta Langhe DOCG Brut! I adore learning a new denomination. I’m well-acquainted with some of Italy’s other traditional method, Champagne grape-led sparkling wines, Trentodoc and Franciacorta being the big names, but I had not acquainted myself with the Alta Langhe DOCG. It’s in the Piedmont, famed home to wines like Barolo and Barbaresco. Still, heretofore, the only bubbly I was aware of out of the region was the single-fermentation sweet treat Moscato, and this wine is lightning years away from that. The secondary, in-bottle fermentation is aged at least three years, just like vintage Champagne. It is made of Pinot Noir (85%) and Chardonnay (15%) and gives fig compote and lemon curd on white melba toast on the nose. The palate brings significant minerality on top of brioche and cherry preserves. The bubbles are fine and long-lasting, the better to savor slowly, my pretty! Super dry but with a ripeness of fruit that keeps it from being searing. Truly a standard bearer, I can’t wait to taste more Alta Langhe.
The 2022 Adami Vigneto Giardino Valdobbiadene DOCG Rive di Colbertaldo Asciutto has some history behind it! Vigneto Giardino (“garden vineyard”) was the first single-vineyard Prosecco ever, first made in 1933. This bottling spends a few months on its lees prior to the second fermentation, giving more texture and complexity to this than your standard tank-method bubbly. It smells of honeydew melon, white roses and slightly of sourdough. The palate reveals itself to be barely off-dry, reading not sweet, more like tea you’ve added a little honey too. The bubbles are fleeting, the wine a little more palate coating, bringing in yes, honey, honeysuckle, and honeydew. And then a bit of wonder bread (in the best way). To be more specific, it is delicious and easygoing but nuanced.
I found the Garofoli ‘Piccole Bollicine’ Vino Frizzante lots of fun. The name Piccole Bollicine means “little bubbles,” seeing as a frizzante wine is just lightly bubbly (as opposed to Spumante). Made of 90% Verdicchio and 10% Passerina from the Marche, it is fresh and friendly. It gives a little citrus, a little orange blossom, and a whiff of pear. On the palate, the bubbles are ever so lightly prickly and drying, soaking up ripe lemon meringue and even a touch of anise. It is so much fun, it would be great on its own or perhaps in addition to a vermouth (PS I probably only mentioned that as I am writing an article on vermouth and currently in vermouth limbo with many open bottles crying out for experimentation).
Lastly but not leastly, I have a wine I conceived of saving for a Lambrusco-naysayer I was getting to know on the apps, as one does, but they ditched me last minute for a Friday date, which I took as a sign to open it asap (ps modern single life is trash, I’m deleting the dating apps asap). Ahem, anyway, the Cleto Chiarle de Noir Brut Vino Spumante is made of Lambrusco Grasparossa, augmented with 15% Pinot Nero (rather novel!) and is not labeled as Lambrusco. Hence, I guess my drinking it isn’t as rebellious as I surmised, but whatevs, his loss. Also, rather novel, rather than being made with a secondary fermentation to create the bubs, this is a single fermentation in an autoclave. The result is a spritely sparkler, filled with red fruit and a hint of dairy and salinity, subtle but effective tannins from the brief skin-contact puckering and begging for another sip.