Every Monday I host a tasting group of enthusiasts and professionals, most of whom are studying for various wine exams. Have you seen the film Somm? Just like that.
This month a few of the tasters are studying for a sparkling wine exam, so we decided to do a blind tasting of tank-fermented sparkling wines. By coincidence, most people brought a Prosecco, so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to give a sense of what different Proseccos can taste like. The following may get a bit technical, but hopefully everyone can get a sense of what these wines taste like.
About me
I became fascinated by wine in college, where I started an unsurprisingly-popular wine club. I've dabbled in the wine business, but now it's strictly a hobby. I think it's magical and beautiful that the process of tasting wine involves scent-memories, which are so linked to each person's background and culture.
A primer on sparkling wines
Sparkling wines have many styles, but the most common styles (Prosecco, Cava, Champagne, Moscato) can be divided in two ways: Sweet vs. Dry, and Tank vs. Traditional method.
Sweet vs. Dry
Sparkling wines tend to have high acidity, and the bubbles accentuate that. Thus to balance the acidity, normally a little sugar is required (the same reason you need to add sugar to lemonade). Most bubblies that taste dry will actually have 3-10 grams per liter of sugar. On the other hand, some styles that are meant to be sweet (like Moscato d'Asti) can have upwards of 70g/L. All the wines we tasted tonight were slightly off-dry (10-20g/L).
Tank vs. Traditional method
This would take a while to explain in full (see Wine Folly's excellent article) but essentially Traditional method wines spend time on the dead yeast cells, and so develop bready toasty flavors (Champagne). Tank method wines are cheaper to produce and have fresher, fruitier flavors (prosecco, moscato, sekt).
The Wines
Wine 1
(This was my wine, so I knew it was a Prosecco)
Pale straw in color. Smells off rich green apple, with slight white peach.
The bubbles are only moderately strong - maybe 2-3 atmospheres in pressure, not 5-6 like you'd expect in Champagne.
In the mouth, it feels slightly sweet - probably around 10g RS (I was wrong - it's 12-17g/L), 12% alcohol (I was wrong - 11%), medium plus acid, mild bitterness. Green apple-skin finish.
The bitterness on the finish is a little inelegant, but overall this is a great example of Prosecco, showing refreshing acidity and fresh fruit flavors, without any yeasty notes. Not bad for ~$19, but not a bargain either.
Wine 2
(Tasted blind - I just knew it was a tank-fermented wine)
Pale straw color. Clean fruity aromas of green apple and pear. The apple aroma seems more like bruised apple. Faint impression of yeastiness that seems like cheese rind - it's not at the toasty level you'd expect from Champagne, but it is a little unusual for a tank-fermented wine.
On the palate, it's quite sweet - maybe 15-20g RS. Medium plus acid. Fairly clean green-apple flavors on the finish.
The bubbles are large and coarse, and feel about as powerful as the first wine - maybe 2-3 atmospheres of pressure.
My guess: Given the bubbles, the sweetness, and lack of high acid, this feels like a pretty classic Prosecco, extra dry, $15.
Correct! This was a Melvolti Prosecco Superiore, Extra Dry - $19
Wine 3
(Tasted blind)
Medium gold color. Aromas of green and bruised apple. There's a thiolic component to it - grapefruit and lots of melon - almost cantaloupe. Reminds me of a Smaragd Gruner Veltliner. There's also some honey, which indicates the fruit may be lower-quality or slightly infected with botrytis.
In the mouth it's moderately sweet - around 15g/L (I was wrong, it's about 10g/L). Coarse bubbles, medium plus acid, and a bit of apple skin and some bitterness on the finish.
Analysis: It could be a Prosecco but it's too dark in color. Also the aromatics are far more tropical and peach-like than I'd expect from Prosecco. The darker color and strange nose suggests a grape like Pinot Gris... which would mean the wine is more likely a Sekt from Germany.
Final Guess: Sekt, Extra trocken (12-17g/L), $20.
Actual: Close! It is a Sekt, but it's drier than I thought (Brut). It's the Hild Elbling Sekt.
Wine 4
(blind)
Pale straw color. This is not very aromatic. There are some faint decaying lemon-apple notes, and that's about it.
In the mouth it's very sweet - feels 25-30g/L (I was wrong - it's only 12-17g). The bubbles are large and coarse. It feels hot -
like someone added rubbing alcohol. One taster commented "Is this lemonade mixed with vodka?" Medium acid (too little!) and quite bitter on the finish.
My guess: This is terrible. I'm guessing it's a really cheap tank-method wine from anywhere in the world, around $10. It could be from anywhere - California, South America, Germany, Italy, even India. Wherever it's from, I hope it's not expensive.
Reveal: 2013 Giustino Ruggeri Prosecco Extra Dry, $30!!!
This is really, really disappointing. I won't be buying this anytime soon.
Conclusions:
- Guessing a wine blind is super tough - even if you know it's a tank-fermented sparkler and is probably either Sekt, Prosecco, or a cheaper sparkler.
- $30 is a lot for a Prosecco, and it doesn't necessarily translate to quality.
- Prosecco goes amazingly well with dry-roasted almonds, olive oil, and truffle salt. Try it. You're welcome.
I hope that was interesting to read! Let me know in comments below whether it made sense / was helpful.
Further reading:
If you're relatively new to wine, I'd highly recommend starting at Wine Folly - the infographics and articles are fantastic.
If you're a wine-geek, you probably have a bunch of your own favorite resources - the Oxford Companion, GuildSomm are some of mine.
If you're an MS or MW student, you probably know more than I do, but if you haven't listened to the GuildSomm podcasts or the Into Winemaking podcasts, you're missing out.