Move over French champagne, Italian spumante is the world’s best sparkling wine – and here’s why
For the first time Italian spumante has picked up more honours than French champagne at the prestigious Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships – but what is the story behind this bubbly Mediterranean upstart?
For the first time in history, at this year’s Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships, Italian sparkling wine triumphed over French champagne in the majority of awards – winning a total of 71 gold and 92 silver medals versus champagne’s 61 gold and 49 silvers.
Few know that Franciacorta has even more prestige than Champagne. It’s a superior fizz … the sort one keeps for special celebrations and anniversaries
French champagne is globally renowned and sold everywhere, yet most wine connoisseurs know that Italy boasts several sublime, niche sparklers which are more prestigious and sought after – known as “spumante”, a nod to the foamy explosion triggered by the cork popping.
“As opposed to champagne, which heavily relies on marketing and global mass-scale market penetration of its middle-average segment quality bottles, Italy’s top spumante … [comes from areas of] Northern Italy where the particular terroir, expertise in vine growing and the surrounding nature combine [to create] a high-end product,” says Italian wine expert Giorgio Bindi.
The fizzy battle between France and Italy has been going on for quite some time, but following this year’s awards upset the competition is definitely heating up. The French may excel at promoting their champagne bottles and sticking together when national interests are at stake, says Bindi, but the power of Italy’s bubbly lies in its exclusiveness and prestige.
French champagne faces its toughest competition from a fertile patch of land, once a former swamp, in northern Italy dubbed Franciacorta and which has named the native spumante. A consortium ensuring tight regulations unites more than 100 wineries scattered across green hills around the picturesque town of Erbusco.
The winemaking tradition dates back to ancient Roman times but flourished in the Middle Ages, thanks to monks, who recovered the marshes for rural use and kick-started the wine business. In exchange for their hard labour all monasteries in the area were granted tax exemptions and privileges, hence the original name of the region “Curte Franca” (Franciacorta), referring to a tax-free kingdom.
Here, mineral-rich vineyards grow out of siliceous, clayey extinct glaciers that have melted across millennia leaving the soil fit to grow a special, healthy bubbly. Cantinas are in medieval chapels, Renaissance villas and ancient undergrounds. Families of winemakers with blue blood have sharpened wine skills, passing the know-how across generations of heirs who have never abandoned the prosperous lands.