Alto Adige sparkling wine: Multifaceted Aroma with Elegant Pearls
Méthode Champenoise: Sparkling Wine Quality at the Highest Level
As early as around 1900, there was a winery in Appiano making the first Alto Adige sparkling wine from Riesling grapes. After several decades, the tradition of sparkling wine production is experiencing a new flourishing in Alto Adige and, as the supreme discipline of the Association of Alto Adige sparkling wine producers, it is strictly regulated. Only first-class grape material of controlled origin (DOC) of the base wine varieties of
Chardonnay,
Pinot Blanc, and
Pinot Noir may be used for the production of Alto Adige sparkling wine.
It is produced according to the strict classic method of sparkling wine production. One of the special features of this is the secondary fermentation, which takes place directly in the bottle. In order to optimally continue the fermentation process, every bottle must have its position changed constantly. An eighth of a turn, a quarter turn, a half turn, with a changing angle, at 12 degrees C. (54 degrees F.) cellar temperature, without the addition of artificial ingredients. The sparkling wine maker must allow the sparkling wine to mature naturally for a minimum of fifteen months, but most of them carry this out for two or three years or even longer. In that way, the wine can transform the fresh aromas and fine fruit acidity of the grapes into the supple pearls of Alto Adige sparkling wine without any time pressure. The enjoyment of sparkling wine at its finest.