Villa Sandi targets UK on-trade with Italian fizz from new DOC

Prosecco producer Villa Sandi is targeting the UK with a traditional champagne-style wine from one of Italy’s younger DOCs, Vigneti della Serenissima.

The Vigneti della Serenissima DOC was established in the Veneto region in 2011 as a project between fifteen producers, and stretches from Treviso, Belluno, Vicenza, Padua, to Verona, however Villa Sandi is the only winery  who has bottled wine from the DOC. Currently around 15k bottles a year are produced within the entire DOC.

The company released its first vintage, Opere Serenissima 2012, at VinItaly last year and is now targeting the UK on-trade with the second vintage of the Champagne-style sparkler.

Export Sales manager Flavio Geretto told the drinks business the Italian fizz, which is produced from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes in the traditional method before being aged in bottle for 24 months, is looking to combine the freshness of Prosecco with the fuller flavour of Champagne.

Villa Sandi, which is privately owned by the Moretti Polegato family, has its vineyards on the hills around Crocetta del Montella, south of Valdobbiadene. It produces around 6m bottles of Prosecco, primarily for the international markets, using a method to chill the must once it has been crushed, which Geretto said maintains a fresher flavour.

“Prosecco is no long longer just seen as a ‘cheap Champagne’, people really want it rather than Champagne and at Villa Sandi we feel it is important to point out the differences between standard Prosecco and premium,” Geretto said.