Italy produces 240 million bottles of spumante, of which more than 220 million bottles are produced with the tank fermentation method. Only a vanishingly small percentage of the production are sparkling wines that complete their secondary fermentation in the bottle. The Metodo Classico, as the bottle fermenters are called in Italy after the prohibition of the term Metodo Champenois, do not get off the ground. This is surprising, because not only Franciacorta DOCG and Trento DOC, but also branded products show that Italy is able to produce inspiring fine sparklers.
Not every wine expert knows right away what exactly is meant when he reads "Metodo Classico". Only a minority is so well informed about the Italian wine scene that they spontaneously associate "Metodo Classico Italiano" with bottled fermentation sparkling wines.
Italian Metodo Classico is not in a rosy situation. Its growth rate is quite discouraging, its image is suffering from confusion, above all abroad, and in the market, it is being crushed by the superiority of champagne and the new successes of cava.
This May, the problems of the Metodo Classico came up at a meeting of the "Seminario Permanente del Metodo Classico" in Erbusco, Franciacorta: The self-critical voices culminated in the statement that the metodo classico has not been a topic of discussion for ten years, that is, since the EU banned the term "metodo champenois" for all bottle fermenters except for champagne in 1992.
This moment should have been a new start for the Italian noble spumante, however, the opportunity was permanently missed. Gianni Legnani, today image keeper at Guido Berlucchi, but until recently ambassador of champagne in Italy, wrote a study on the development of Italian sparkling wine in the international environment on behalf of the CIVC (Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne).
At that time, the French were very worried about the vitality in the Italian sparkling wine sector and about the rapid quality growth of Italian bottled fermenters
There is obviously a potential in Italy that was able to worry the French. To exploit it, however, would have required a joint approach and financial resources. "In order to be able to share a big cake instead of fighting about poor crumbs today", Gianni Legnani says.
From the beginning, however, the Italian Metodo Classico realities went separate ways: Franciacorta decided to go it alone, identified its wine with the territory, and banned the word "Spumante"; the Istituto italiano Metodo Classico came together in the Talento consortium, which comprises northern Italian production areas in Piedmont, Trentino, South Tyrol to Friuli, making a small exception for Tuscany (Antinori), and the big sparkling wine houses of Piedmont invested in their "Alta Langa" project.
The confusion of names and designations is persistent; just think that in Oltrepò Pavese they could not even make the basic decision whether their Metodo Classico should bear the brand Classese or Talento. The confused situation in Italy is a heavy obstacle at a time when the Spanish cava, in the shadow of the overpowering champagne, is experiencing an enormous increase in sales.
"Ten years on", the situation of the Italian Metodo Classico still seems to be stagnant: Production has only increased from the then 13 to 14 million bottles to today's 16 to 18 million bottles. This is nothing compared to the 240 million spumante bottles produced in Italy, and little compared to the estimates at that time, which spoke of a potential of 30 to 35 million Metodo Classico. Nothing compared to the 262 million bottles of Champagne and the 40 million bottles of Crémant produced in France and the 230 million bottles produced in Spain.
Rather worrying is also the fact that the USA meanwhile also produces about 200 million bottles of sparkling wine.
What are the reasons for the zero growth of the Italian Metodo Classico? One is certainly the fact that in Italy spumante is associated with festive occasions: Seventy percent of all spumante consumption falls in the last months of the year. Another reason is the lack of communication in favor of Metodo Classico, with the result that consumers are not able to distinguish it fundamentally from the other typologies (Asti, Prosecco, etc.).
Metodo Classico, i.e. Berlucchi, Ferrari and Franciacorta
Today, the production of Italian Metodo Classico is mainly carried out by three big poles: Berlucchi with its branded sparkling wines, Ferrari with its Trento DOC and Franciacorta with its DOCG. Each of these three realities moves on the market with completely different strategies.
The Guido Berlucchi house in Borgonato - in the Franciacorta area - produces 4.3 million bottles and builds its success on the elaboration of different cuvees, whose basic wines come from different growing areas (Oltrepò Pavese, Trentino and Franciacorta).
Berlucchi's latest communication campaign has the slogan "mangia e bevi" ("eat and drink"), which is based on the message that Metodo Classico can accompany a whole meal, on any occasion, from aperitif to dessert.
The House of Ferrari (4.5 million bottles), on the other hand, relies entirely on the impact of its strong brand name. In fact, according to representative surveys, Ferrari seems to be the best-known brand name for wine and among the fifteen best-known Italian brands at all.
So it is difficult to understand the attitude of Mauro Lunelli, owner of Ferrari together with his siblings. Lunelli, already president of the Istituto Trento DOC, recently had himself elected president of the Talento consortium. At the Erbusco meeting, he announced that the Talento name should soon be officially recognized, and he wanted realities like Franciacorta to place themselves under the Talento flag, too.
Franciacorta's answer was unmistakable; Claudio Faccoli, president of the consortium, as well as Pierangelo Plebani, director of the consortium, dispelled any doubts: They had not the slightest intention to deviate from the current strategy. They also emphasized that with the recognition of the DOCG for the Franciacorta Metodo Classico in 1995 and the establishment of the appellation as brand name, a real boom had started.
Since 1996, the area under Franciacorta DOCG has increased by thirty percent. In 1997, as late as 2.9 million bottles were disgorged, but in 2001, as early as 4.6 million bottles were disgorged. The Franciacorta newcomers Marchesi Antinori and Fratelli Muratori - local textile entrepreneurs - will provide a further boost by launching half a million bottles of Franciacorta DOCG each next year.
Nevertheless, the Italian Metodo Classico is asleep. There are investments in production and communication here and there, but the individual approach and the lack of collective, effective strategies have the result that the market of the Metodo Classico has only increased imperceptibly during the past ten years.
Gianni Legnani: "It is high time for the sector to move together and to define its common goals. It can no longer be acceptable that the individual suppliers, however famous they may be, only see their own immediate interests."
Alta Langa - New DOC for Piedmontese Metodo Classico
That Italy can do more than bottle cheap spumante for a few cents is proven by the bottled fermenters from Franciacorta and Trentino. All over Italy, there are small and bigger islands where excellent Metodo Classico are produced.
However, the Piedmontese wine houses can boast the longest tradition in this respect. As early as 400 years ago, Giovan Battista Croce, the court jeweler of the Duke of Savoy, wrote down the recipe for a sparkling Moscato wine - the ancestor of today's Asti.
Much later, in 1865, Carlo Gancia applied the bottle fermentation process to Moscato on a grand scale. This "Moscato Champagne", as the aromatic froth was called at the time, was quickly imitated and developed by the other Piedmont wineries. At the same time, the wine houses specialized in dry fine sparkling wines from Pinot and Chardonnay. Since the grape production of these varieties was sparse in Piedmont, they helped themselves to other regions. The nearby Oltrepò Pavese (Lombardy) served as a Pinot Nero supplier, the Chardonnay came from Trentino
Wine cellars of unimagined dimensions in Canelli, Asti, Santa Vittoria and other Piedmontese wine towns still bear witness to the heyday of Piedmontese "champagne" in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, these cellars are mostly empty. Compared to the millions of bottles produced back then, the output of Piedmont Metodo Classico today is only a sad trickle.
The blame for the decline of the Piemont Spumante lies not only with the French competition, but probably not least with the lack of identity. The meaningless name "Spumante", the fact that the basic wines for the Piedmontese Spumante only came from Piedmont itself in exceptional cases, and the shift of the emphasis of the wineries to the Asti business let the Piedmontese "Metodo Classico" fall into oblivion among producers and consumers. With the foundation of the revival association "Tradizione Spumante" in 1990, the classic spumante houses (Martini&Rossi, Banfi, Fontanafredda, originally Cinzano, later replaced by Giulio Cocchi, Gancia, Barbero 1891, Riccadonna-Bersano) wanted to turn around the sad fate of their once renowned product. During cultivation tests in the early nineties, it was found out that the high Langa vineyards are perfectly suitable for the cultivation of Pinot and Chardonnay, so they started to plant new vineyards: Fifty hectares have been planted so far.
The first vintage of the original Piedmont Metodo Classico - "Alta Langa" is its name - is the '98, the total production is just under 400,000 bottles. The consortium, which was founded last year, has applied for the DOC for the "Alta Langa" at the DOC committee in Rome. After Trento DOC and Franciacorta DOCG, the Alta Langa DOC will soon be the third Italian Metodo Classico with controlled designation of origin.
The application for the DOC for Alta Langa - grape varieties: Pinot Nero and Chardonnay - was granted on July 27th of this year. Thus, Piedmont friends will soon be able to toast with Alta Langa DOC.
Small blemish on the Alta Langa production rules: No minimum length of time is prescribed for aging on the lees. This means that the legal minimum for "Metodo Classico" in the EU - nine months - is tacitly adopted. Even though houses that give something to their name will not release a sparkling wine under two years of yeast, the anticipation for the Alta Langa DOC is clouded by the fact that cheap sparklers produced in a fast process can also be put on the market under this name. An Alta Langa DOC with vintage designation promises more pleasure: A "Millesimato" can be sold after two years of bottle fermentation at the earliest.
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Spumante production and consumption in Italy |
|
| Italian Spumante production | 240 |
| Consumption in Italy | 110/120 |
| Export | 120/130 |
| Production Charmat | 225 |
| Asti | 80 |
| Prosecco | 40 |
| div. spumante | 85 |
| Production Metodo Classico | 15/18 |
| Lombardy | 8/9 |
| Trentino/South Tyrol | 6/7 |
| Piedmont and others | 1/2 |
| Source: Gianni Legnani estimates | |
The above article was kindly made available to us by the Merum editorial team. Many thanks for this