sparkling wine

Italian Sparkling Wine, or Spumante

The best Italian sparkling wine is classified as spumante naturale, in which spuma and perlage are not the result of added CO2, but the natural refermentation of a quantity of sugar. There are two primary methods for obtaining this type, known as Classic and Charmat. True Italian style is born of the latter, using autoclaves for refermenting. The procedure unites the necessity of containing costs, while exploiting grapes for their aromatic characteristics, a divergence considering practices in other producing countries.

Italian sparkling wines belong to a category that, in line with European regulations, must obtain effervesence with a closed alcohol fermentation process, including those where levels of gas derive from the addition of carbon dioxide, with at least 3 bars of pressure and a temperature of 20 degrees.

Contributing to the fame of these sparkling spumante products is in fact the fruit itself, with varietals like white and yellow Moscato, Lambrusco, some kinds of Malvasia, Brachetto, Glera and Erbaluce, as well as classics auch as Chardonnay and types of Pinot.