Chef Magazine for Thailand December/January | Page 61

are over 3,364 grape growers in the region, farming
a total of 7,549ha who work with 438 co-operative
wineries. The region also has 178 producers. Prosecco producers worth taking a look at include:
Prosecco as a wine style, first became popular in the
1970’s in Germany, a country with a long tradition
of sparkling wine consumption. The popularity of
Prosecco then spread to America both North and
South with Brazil one of the biggest markets for
their wines. The Far East too is proving to be a
boom market for Prosecco producers as the lighter
style of sparkling wine is an extremely good match
for Asian and Japanese foods. The house of Bisol is one of the region’s historic names and this
family owned estate has been making wine since 1542. Originally
from Treviso the family worked for generations in the region as
viticulturists. They founded their modern winery in 1875 and were
one of the first companies to specialise in the production and
selling of wines made from their own vineyards. The Bisol family
now own 50 ha of vineyard in the regions making them one of the
biggest landowner, which means they have total control over their
winemaking from vineyard to fermentation. As a result, they are
considered to be one of the top producers in the region.
The global financial meltdown sparked the
Prosecco phenomenon. During the boom times
consumer got a taste for drinking bubbles, when
austerity hit and belt tightening was de rigeur, the
arrival of Prosecco was a game changer.
Prosecco, almost unknown 12 years ago is now the
sparkling wine of choice at many family focussed
celebrations such as weddings, christenings,
graduations, etc. This value Italian sparkling wine, is
fruity and light is now the drink of choice for those in
the market for the “pop” factor.
Recent figures show that Prosecco are currently
driving the sparkling wine category in the UK, sales
of Prosecco increased by +17% in 2017. Another
interesting fact comes courtesy of the Consorzio
Tutela Prosecco DOC. The Consorzio, a private
company, represents the interests of a number of
Prosecco producers. Last year they conducted a
marketing survey on 8 million UK consumers, the
results showed that 56% of Prosecco purchases
make in the UK retail sector are by men. Globally
sales of Prosecco are expected to reach 400+
million bottles by 2020. In the same year, UK sales
are expected to increase to 8.3 million cases.
The success of Prosecco as a sparkling wine
category shows no sign of abating, the category
is about to expand with the introduction of a
brand new wine style, Prosecco Rosé. This year on
May 9th, the Prosecco DOC Consorzio agreed to
change the wine law to allow producers to make
Rosé wine by mixing the white Glera grape with
a maximum of 15% Pinot Noir to create Prosecco
Rosé as a DOC wine. The category will only be
allowed for the fully sparkling “spumante” style
and not for the frizzante style. The “frizzante” style
with less pressure that is sealed with a string rather
than a wire muselet is also due to be phased out of
production within the next few years.
BISOL
As well as owning a significant amount of vineyard land, the Bisol
family also have 16 of the cru vineyards, which means they can
specialise in the production of single vineyard wines. The most
famous of the cru vineyards in the region is Cartizze a special
vineyard area on a hill of red sandstone overlooking the town of
Valdiobbiandene that yields the best and most expensive wines from
the region. This is where Bisol farm the grapes for their premium wine
“Superiore di Cartizze” Brut.
They key to quality of the Bisol wines lies not only in the base wine but
also in their production method. The consistant quality of their wine
is achieved by the blending of three different still wines each from the
same Prosecco grape but each vinified in a different way. The fourth
component to the blend is either a small percentage of Chardonnay
or Pinot Bianco .
The different fermentation styles are Traditional (standard
fermentation of clean must at a low temperature in stainless steel
tanks), Battonage (cap left in situ and stirred for higher alcohol
content), Arabile (traditional style of Prosecco fermentation where
the fermentation goes dormant in winter and re-starts when the
temperatures rise in Spring). A typical blend would consist of 50%
traditional ,25% Battonage, 20% Arabile and 5% Chardonnay or
Pinot Bianco.
The resultant wine is more complex with the blending process cutting
out vintage variation and giving consistency of style. The blended
still wine is then fermented for a second time in a large tank and
bottled under pressure immediately prior to dispatch.
BOT TEGA GOLD
Bottega is a family owned company located in Bibano, Treviso (45
km North of Venice). Bottega is a third generation business, led by
Barbara, Sandro, and Stefano Bottega. Their premium Bottega Gold
Prosecco with its distinctive Gold Bottle, which incidentially they have
a patent for, has just been awarded a Gold Master Medal at the 2018
Prosecco Masters competition organized by Drinks Business for the
second time. The wine is made from hand-picked grapes and must
obtained is fermented in for nearly 40 days, at about 15°. · Chef
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