Whole sparkling wines: notes & tastings of my greatest love ❤

Everyone has the sacrosanct right to have a weakness. And no, I am not super partes: the whole sparkling winestogether with the Sauternes, to the Porto and some terribly old spicy reds, have a special place in my heart. It was Vinitaly 2016 and, as usual, I walked through the Veneto pavilion just to go somewhere else. At the time, this region was only of interest to me when it came to certain Amarone wines. Blissful ignorance! When I first came to their 'den', I was totally fascinated by its beauty. That is why, even though I was very tired, I stopped: I absolutely wanted to find out if it was the work of the white rabbit himself!

I stop and am greeted by Cinzia, who is kind and in love with her work. I taste everything. I am amazed. But are we sure it is Prosecco? I admit, at the time I was really ignorant about this appellation. Blame it on the fact that I had drunk so many, one worse than the other. But as I realised there was a world to discover, I drank so many proseccos that I absolutely caught up....

I noticed now that Bellenda's stand was in the same position as this year. Imagine I hadn't seen it... too distracted chasing the white rabbit ? An even more beautiful stand than the previous year! This year, however, thanks to Agnese Ceschi, I also discovered Bellenda... and he had the ability to surprise and excite me with a 2006 SC 1931 with notes of hydrocarbons that I would never have suspected in Glera!

Wholemeal sparkling wines: what are they?

Whole sparkling wines are obtained by fermenting wines in the bottle following the 'normal procedure' classic method and then skipping the disgorging stage. In practice, the yeasts remain inside the bottle and enrich the wine with special aromas and give these wines their characteristic 'cloudiness', which becomes more intense when shaken (as I like it). Taking a step back, during mousse taking, the yeasts transform the sugar into carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol and form a series of secondary substances that enrich the sparkling wine with characteristic aromas and flavours. The curiosity is that the yeasts transform all the available sugar within 6 months, and deplete the wine by robbing it of mineral salts, proteins and amino acids. After 6 months, autolysis begins, a biological process during which the yeasts destroy themselves and return to the wine, with interest, all the substances they had taken from it. Whole sparkling wines therefore undergo this process until you open them. This is why they evolve continuously in the bottle and are always different! The typical scents they are enriched with are citrine notes, vegetable notes and dried fruit notes.

Full sparkling wines: tasting of P.S. 2013 from Le Vigne di Alice

I will always be biased when it comes to Le Vigne di Alice's P.S.. It made me revolutionise every belief about Veneto bubbles, especially from the Conegliano Valdobbiadene area and Glera! It is a beautiful, intense and veiled 'hay' straw yellow, with a very fine perlage that first forms an abundant froth, then a persistent crown. On the nose, the first note that touches you is liquorice, very intense. Then comes lavender, and if I close my eyes I feel I am still in Provence, in front of the abbey of Senanque in full bloom. Then candied tangerine from Apt, fresh almonds, sunburnt hay, acacia flowers and a sugared almond finish. In the mouth, it is consistent, enriched with a note that reminds me of the scent of freshly made dulce de leche. By the way... I'm making it today ? what a great idea !!! ? Long finish between oats and caramel. I like to drink it on its own before eating, but it is certainly also intriguing in combination with certain stuffed pasta dishes... like today, if Davide resurrects from shopping, I'll make crespelle stuffed with ricotta and vegetables with lots of béchamel: I'm sure it will go very well, then I'll let you know! ?

Whole sparkling wines: tasting of Bellenda's Radicale 2013

Radicale is made this way: crushing, fermentation on the skins, no addition of sulphur, indigenous yeasts. We have been producing it in magnum bottles for many years and we do not hide the fact that we particularly like it for the sensations and memories it transmits to us, a wine where merits and defects are balanced and with every sip it reminds us where we come from. In 2013, a vintage that we consider very interesting, we thought of a small run of Radicale to be re-fermented in a traditional 0.75 bottle. A limited edition of 300 bottles dressed with a label designed by Maurizio Armellin, dedicated to the people who believed and believe in our work in continuous evolution, in search of the deepest roots of the products of our land.

Bellenda 1986

I don't know anything about it, I have only seen a label of its kind that is truly splendid. It glides in the glass a beautiful, very intense 'hay' straw yellow, veiled, with a very fine perlage that forms a whirlwind of bubbles in the centre of the glass that are arranged at the sides to form a light, persistent crown. The nose is surprising: walnut, mountain pine, lemon, unsweetened whipped cream, rhubarb, gentian and candied pear fade into a minty finish. In the mouth it is vertical, very fresh, enveloping, with a good saltiness and great consistency to the nose. Long bitter finish. I like full-bodied sparkling wines 'on their own', but if I really want to eat something with it, I would definitely pair it with shellfish, perhaps prawns wrapped in freshly seared lard on a pea puree... slurp! Come on, it's almost noon and I'm already hungry... ?

Whole Grain Sparkling Wines: Which are your favourites?

If you want to get to know everyone my favourite whole sparkling wines you can buy my sparkling wine guide 500 bubbles in 500You will find some really fantastic ones, I assure you! And do you habitually drink whole sparkling wines? Which are your favourites? Tell me in a comment!

And if you want to read more about these two wineries:

• Bellenda: an extraordinary vertical of Prosecco S.C. 1931 at Vinitaly 2017
• My greatest discovery at Vinitaly 2016? Prosecco Metodo Classico Integrale P.S.

Special Thanks to Cinzia, Pierfrancesca and Umberto who inspired me to write this article. Merry Christmas to you all! Now I'm off to cook!

Cheers ❤

Chiara

P.S. As always, I thank Photo Universe for my beloved Sony RX100M4 which I am absolutely in love with! Try it, try it, try it!!! There's no iPhone to beat it... even if you're used to taking pictures with your smartphone! By the way, I would like to point out that it is on offer on Amazon for only € 699 instead of € 1,050! If you are thinking of giving yourself a fantastic Christmas present, seize the moment!

All my notes on wine and food in one book.