We will uncork over 140 million bottles, especially during the Christmas holidays and to toast the new year – looking back on a 2014 that undermined some consolidated values – for a value of around one billion euros: the bubbly market in Italy is more effervescent than ever. A little less effervescent are the pockets of the Italians who have considerably lightened especially in recent times. So it arrives on time “Sparkle, guide to the best dry sparkling wines in Italy” which for 14 years now has been signaling the best Italian production of bubbles, proposing itself as an extremely useful guide to gain knowledge of this sector but even more to guide us in prudent purchasing choices based on an optimal cost-quality ratio. This year Sparkle, drafted by the authoritative food and wine magazine 'Cucina & Vini' directed by Francesco D'Agostino, awards 69 top labels of national sparkling wine production with the maximum 'five spheres' rating, real wine excellences now not only Italian but international. And yes, because by now our sparkling wines and our proseccos have conquered the world markets, surpassing in value and production the most noble, and once unattainable, French Champagne.
Which made a comment Maurice Martina, Minister of Agricultural Policies: “Italy confirms itself as the homeland of wine, returning to being the leader also in production. We have an extraordinary wealth with over 500 cultivated vines and we want to further enhance the great work done by our companies in recent years. This is why we dedicated a pavilion to Italian wine at Expo that showed more than one and a half million visitors the strength, history and future of this sector. We are ready to support exports with even more determination, which now steadily exceed 5 billion euros a year”.
“The secret of success, inside and outside the national borders – explains Francesco D'Agostino – is undoubtedly to be found in the high quality standards achieved by the companies of the Peninsula, as well as in the extreme versatility of the products, suitable, with their diversity, to accompany an entire meal, from aperitif to dessert. Sparkling wines, as confirmed by various sources, represent the driving factor of Italian wine exports. In the first six months of 2015 there was an export growth of 24%, with Great Britain and the United States as the main reference markets. Our bubbles are first in terms of quantity on the world market, exceeding the 1 billion euro mark for the first time”.
Extremely promising data after last year already closed with world consumption of Italian bubbles estimated at around 431 million bottles, 140 million in Italy and 295 abroad, of which 65 from Asti, 210 from Prosecco and 20 from various origin and nature, of which about 2 of the Classic method, then 328 of the Charmat method.
And let's talk about the results of the sparkling vintage as they emerge from the evaluation of Sparkle's experts. The first datum that arises from the assignment of the "spheres", from 1 to 5 according to the levels of excellence after a selection of about 900 labels is that the that 90 percent of the awarded bottles are placed in the price range from 12 to 35 euros, therefore far from the levels of the much more expensive cousins across the Alps. Arriving then at the shortlist of the highest quality bottles, we observe that Franciacorta remains firmly anchored on the podium of Italian bubbles, with 22 "5 spheres", Prosecco Superiore di Conegliano Valdobbiadene, with 17 awards, and Trento, with 15. Followed by Piedmont, Alto Adige, Puglia and Abruzzo.
Among the 69 excellences Firstonline consulted some Italian winemakers for a limited choice of 10 bottles that cannot be missed on tables and in the end-of-year toasts, 10 bottles for connoisseurs to savor with gusto but also to make a good impression on the guests without having to spend money on expensive bottles from beyond the Alps. Here they are:
The Scolca: Soldiers La Scolca Brut 2008
Ca 'del Bosco: Franciacorta Vintage Collection Brut 2010
Villa: Franciacorta Diamant Pas Dose 2008
Costa Ripa: Mattia Vezzola Rosé Brut 2010
Rotaliana winery: Trent Redor Brut
Ferrari: Trento Perlé Brut 2009
Haderburg: Alto Adige Pas Dose 2011
Adami: Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di Colbertaldo Vigneto Giardino Dry 2014
Andreola: Valdobbiadene Rive di Soligo Màs de Fer Extra Dry 2014
Marramiero: Brut
D'Araprì: Pas Dose
It should also be noted that Sparkle ten years ago decided to embark on an exercise of pure pleasure, going in search of the wine that would give the jurors "greater suggestions, vibrations, enchantments, always however as a synthesis of the panel". Thus was born the wine of emotion: this year is the
Franciacorta Vintage Collection Dosage Zéro Noir 2006 by Ca' del Bosco
A curiosity, in conclusion, on the target of the world consumer of bubbles. According to an Ovse survey (Osservatorio Vini Spumanti Effervescenti) in the last 3 years the physiognomy of the average consumer of bubbles has been changing: female consumers are growing (who particularly appreciate rosé wines, which have less alcohol and less tannins); elderly consumers are decreasing; on the other hand, consumers between the ages of 35 and 50 are increasing because they are more aware and more in search of subjective and personal satisfaction; even relatively young fathers of families and consumption in the family are decreasing; single consumers of all faces and lifestyles are growing.
And now all we have to do is toast to the fortunes of wine-making Italy.
