The Dolomite stuff: Trentodoc winemakers take on the power of Prosecco
The producers of bottle-fermented Trentodoc wine want to convince the world that their fizz is head and shoulders above other Italian sparklers. But will they be able to persuade Prosecco lovers to pay for Champagne quality? Patrick Schmitt MW reports
Despite Champagne’s dominance at the top end of the sparkling wine market, this decade’s boom in fizz sales shouldn’t be attributed to this famous region, nor its home nation – France. Rather, the surge in sparkling wine demand since late 2009 should be laid at Italy’s door, and, as proof of that, it was in 2009 that Italy overtook France as the biggest exporter of fizz, when measured according to volumes shipped. And, five year’s later, by the end of 2015, Italy was exporting almost 100 million litres more fizz than France: 273m compared with 176m (although France is still leader in terms of value). Now, while Italy can undoubtedly be credited with taking bubbles mainstream – particularly in the UK – the Mediterranean nation’s key traditional-method sparkling wine regions, Franciacorta and Trentodoc, are little known outside its home country – and both deserve much more attention, particularly now sparkling wine from Italy is so popular.
That’s not to suggest, however, that they are big in terms of volume. In fact, both areas are tiny compared with Italy’s sparkling powerhouse: Prosecco. Of the 700m bottles of sparkling wine made in Italy in 2015, 96% (or 675m) were produced in a tank – and more than half of those (360m) as Prosecco. That leaves just 25m bottles of bottle-fermented fizz (fewer than 10% of Champagne), of which 16m came from Franciacorta, and 7.3m from Trentodoc (followed by 1.2m from Oltrepo Pavese, and 700,000 bottles from Alta Lange).
But of the country’s top traditionalmethod sparkling regions, it is Trentodoc that appears mysteriously absent from the minds of those who love drinking fizz in booming sparkling wine markets such as the UK and US. Franciacorta has carved out a niche following in fine Italian restaurants and specialist retailers, but it is Trentino in northern Italy’s Adige Valley where the nation’s Champagne alternative was first created, and it was the country’s inaugural DOC for traditional-method sparkling wine. It is also home to Italy’s largest brand of traditional method sparkling – Ferrari.
And an area that’s highly distinctive in terms of scenery, and wine style.
ITALIAN HISTORY
Matteo Lunelli, president of the Ferrari Winery, which accounts for more than 60% of Trentodoc’s annual output, explains: “Franciacorta is well known, but the history of bottle-fermented wine in Italy is really in Trentino.” In fact, it can be traced back to a man called Guilio Ferrari, who was the first to plant Chardonnay vines in the region with the intention of creating a “luxury bottlefermented sparkling wine”, having made friends with a Champagne producer while studying oenology in Montpelier, according to Matteo. Although a Ferrari bottle-fermented sparkling Chardonnay was made it 1902, the DOC for traditional-method sparkling wine based on Champagne grapes didn’t come until 1993. Nevertheless, that was early enough to make it the first in Italy.
Fabrizio Marinconz, who is the winemaker for Altemasi brand of Trentodoc, owned by the Cavit cooperative, recalls: “In the past there were all types of sparkling wine under the Trentino DOC and then [in 1984] a voluntary association was formed for producers who made only traditional method sparkling wine, calling itself Trento Classico, after the name of the city and the production method. In 1993, this was formalised as Trento DOC, making it the first appellation in Italy for traditional method sparkling” (and only the third in the world after Champagne and Cremant de Bourgogne). By 2007, Trento DOC was abbreviated to Trentodoc and given a trademark, and today the region comprises 45 producers, with just four traditional-method fizz producers in Trentino choosing not to use the term.
But what makes Trentodoc distinctive? Sabrina Schenk, who heads the promotion of the DOC says: “The key words to understanding Trentodoc are Dolomites, mountains, Italy, Trentino, sparkling wine and metodo classico.”
Continuing, she says: “Trentodoc represents the region and city, and it has three main characteristics. The first is ‘tradition’ – we have a history of traditional-method sparkling that goes back over a century.
The second concerns the mountains – 77% of Trentino is located more than 1,000 metres above sea level, and we have vineyards up to 900m. And the third is the ageing – almost all producers age their wines on their lees well beyond the regulations [which, like Champagne, require a minimum 15- month period].”
Matteo explains: “The characteristic of our region is the mountains: every time you are in a vineyard, whatever the altitude, you are surrounded by mountains – and it is very different to be at 400m on the top of a hill and at 400m on the slope of a mountain that is 2,000m high, because at night the fresh air from the mountains comes down to cool the vines, so there is a strong diurnal shift in temperature.”
Perhaps sadly, Trentodoc producers rarely use the term Dolomites in their labelling, a word that is well known among Alpine skiers and rock climbers. That may be because it is used for still wine and Charmat-method sparkling in the region, which can be labelled the rather sonorous Vigneti delle Dolomiti (IGT).
But something else is crucial to the image and style of Trentodoc. Much of the region’s sparklings are made with pure Chardonnay, even if very few producers choose to brand their bottles as a blanc de blancs – as they would in Champagne. For example, Mezzacorona, a coop responsible for the Rotari Trentodoc, which is the second largest after Ferrari, is the biggest producer of Chardonnay in Italy.
And for the cooperative’s winemaker, Lucio Mattricardi, it is the fruity fresh character of this grape grown in a Mediterranean climate cooled by mountain air that makes Trentodoc so unique. “We are at a 46 degree latitude and Epernay is at 50, and a three-degree difference is a lot, Epernay is 944km north of here, which means we have 944km more sun. And that means, even though we pick at a pH of 3.2, like they do in Champagne, our acidity is rounder.”
For Matteo: “Every Trentodoc has two groups of flavours; one that comes from the Chardonnay of Trentino with its golden apple character and sometimes white peach; and then another that comes from the presence of yeast, which brings the bread crust and a touch of almond.
But it is the Chardonnay from Trentino that has this nice apple flavour – and Trentino is famous too for its apples – this is a distinctive element of our terroir.”
Dramatic scenery, pioneering producers, distinctive Chardonnay-based wines, and a region-wide quality focus – and a big brand leader – why isn’t Trentodoc regularly name-checked when Champagne alternatives are mentioned?
One major reason is the region’s longrunning focus on domestic sales. Schenk says: “78% of the 7.3m bottles of Trentodoc produced are sold in Italy.” This is in line with Ferrari’s sales split between domestic sales and exports, which Matteo says is 80:20.
Although he recognises that the “opportunity is abroad”, he also reports that the Italian market for Trentodoc is still growing.
Nevertheless, Matteo realises that for Trentodoc and Ferrari to become more powerful, they need global recognition, “If you want to be a high-end brand then you need to be in the top restaurants and enotecas around the world; people move around, and wine lovers are increasingly global.”
He, and Trentodoc as a region, is particularly focused on developing the US market. However, Paolo Letrari of boutique producer Letrari, who has just returned from a trade trip to the country, identifies a problem. “The US won’t pay a high price for sparkling wine from Italy because the image for Italian sparkling wine has been created by Prosecco, and unfortunately it has been done at a low price – even Nino Franco [an upmarket Prosecco producer] sells at $16, which is half the price of Letrari.”
Similarly, Anthony Bijleveld, export manager for Gruppo Mezzacorona, says: “The biggest issue for us is selling and promoting Trentodoc abroad, which is not an easy task with Prosecco doing so well.
The identity of Trentodoc for the end consumer is not clear – Trentodoc is not understood, people don’t know what it is, or where it is; Prosecco has put Italian sparkling wine on the map, but people now think that all Italian sparkling wine is Prosecco.”
UPMARKET POSITIONING
Bijleveld says this makes it hard to carve out an upmarket positioning: “The problem is that we aspire to be more like Champagne than Prosecco. We use the Champagne method, and we use Champagne grapes, but we have slightly riper grapes, so we have a fruitier style, while Champagne goes for more yeast, more toasty flavours.”
Meanwhile, his colleague, Mezzacorona winemaker Lucio Mattricardi, blames the generic Italian word spumante for the difficulty faced by Trentodoc producers in all markets. “The category of bubbles from Italy was killed by one name: spumante, which means everything from very sweet fizz to Flavio [Rotari’s rangetopping Trentodoc],” he states.
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Nevertheless, Trentodoc producers do admit that Franciacorta has gained a footing in Italy and abroad alongside Champagne as an upmarket traditionalmethod fizz. “Franciacorta is definitely competition [for Trentodoc] in Italy – it has done a very good job selling the brand,” says Bijleveld. He continues: “We should look at what they have done, all the restaurants in Italy have Franciacorta, it has a very high image, and people are willing to pay for it. If Trentodoc in Italy is sold at €10-€12 (£8.99-£10.79), then Franciacorta starts at €12; we aren’t being critical, it is envy.”
However, he adds: “But we are 200m above sea level at the valley floor, and Franciacorta is at sea level – it is warmer – we are more suited, with the mountains, to making high-quality sparkling wines.”
Then he adds: “Franciacorta tends to go more towards a toasty, yeasty style, and Trentodoc tends to go towards something more fruity; the quality of both products is good, it’s more a question of style.”
Interestingly, following a story on thedrinksbusiness.com concerning Trentodoc’s need to raise awareness internationally, sparkling wine and Champagne authority Tom Stevenson said the region should collaborate with Franciacorta to promote itself.
“Personally, I think that Trentodoc and Franciacorta should do a roadshow together,” he said. “Geographically they are not that far from one another, but topographically, geologically and climatically they are so different, as are their wines. Trentodoc and Franciacorta must produce 99% of Italy’s finest sparkling wines between them, and a roadshow would be a great opportunity to contrast the differences that make their wines such successful. Both regions have a lot to gain from such a collaboration.”
Paolo Letrari sees a benefit to such an idea, telling db: “I don’t see Franciacorta as competition – and metodo classico is such a small part of Italy’s production – and my feeling is that it should increase from other areas, otherwise we will always have a small representation in external markets: in Italy we are one to 10 in terms of metodo classico to Charmat.”
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES
Organic movement
In terms of style, Letrari sees a further difference between the regions other than those identified above: “Trentodoc is more focused on Chardonnay compared with Franciacorta, where you find more red grapes.”
Lunelli would also, in principle, be open to the idea of collaboration, noting that the Altagamma organisation for luxury top-end Italian brands, of which he is vice-president, sees both Ferrari and Franciacorta’s Ca’ del Bosco promote themselves successfully together. But beyond that, he says: “It doesn’t work.”
Indeed, he comments: “Ferrari probably represents 40% of all Italian exports of bottlefermented sparkling wine; we don’t need Franciacorta.”
“These are two different territories with two different styles, and we should first of all establish the identity of our territory,” he says. Nevertheless, he also believes that Italy should find a name that’s exclusive to the country’s qualityminded producers of traditionalmethod sparkling.
“I think we should find a common name for top territories of traditional-method sparkling wine from Italy, and then attach that name to each region.”
Now, it should be said that Italy does have the Talento DOC for all producers of classic-method sparkling in the north of the nation, but Lunelli admits this has been unsuccessful. “The problem with Talento is that the name started to be used mostly by producers making bottlefermented sparkling wine without the tradition of making it [suggesting that they were the best adverts for the style].”
Letrari adds: “Talento was officially recognised as a term in 2000 for metodo classico with a 18 months’ minimum lees ageing and made with Champagne grapes, and it uses the image of a pupitre [riddling rack] as a trademark, but very few are using it – and that’s because they would rather use the name of their region.”
Lunelli says: “We Italians aren’t the best at working together,” while adding, “And if I invest in the Ferrari brand and the Trentodoc name, then there’s not too much left to invest in metodo classico.”
This aside, the future appears bright for Trentodoc. “I’m an optimist, I see a great future for our sparkling wine, because if you convert to good bubbles then it’s difficult to turn back,” says Letrari.
Furthermore, Lunelli remarks: “Unfortunately, Trentodoc doesn’t yet have the recognition we deserve, but that’s because we have never invested in promoting it worldwide… and this will happen, starting in the US.” In anticipation of rising demand, Lunelli is laying down more stocks of Ferrari (see interview page 30), while Mezzacorona’s Bijleveld says Rotari has the capacity to increase from its current 3m bottle annual production to 5m. Furthermore, Altemasi, the third-largest Trentodoc brand with 600,000 bottle sales in 2015, is “investing to increase demand in many markets”
according to winemaker Marinconz, who also tells db that he has been laying down an extra 10% in every recent vintage “because we expect to grow”.
And for the region as a whole, Schenk has achieved her two strategic aims to expand the recognition of the Trentodoc brand. “I wanted to reach sommeliers and wine professionals, and now we are a partner with the Italian Sommelier Association and the Institute of Masters of Wine, so I am very happy about that.”
However, the region is never going to be a big-volume producer of traditionalmethod sparkling wine. “More than 80% of the land in Trentino is occupied by the mountains, so the quantity of farmable land is very limited,” says Mezzacorona’s Mattricardi. It’s also an area dominated by cooperatives and tiny farms – the average vineyard is around 1 hectare.
And the environment isn’t conducive to high yields either. “We have no water table, no clay, poor soil, and cold nights, there are many limiting factors that naturally control the productivity of the vine,” he adds.
INCREASING FOCUS
But the region is increasingly focused on sparkling-wine production. Lunelli says, “We have to grow as a territory and the region is converting to sparkling wine where growers can cultivate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, because people realise that Trentino can become the area for quality sparkling wine.”
Echoing this view, Letrari says: “There is always someone else who can produce a good Pinot Grigio or Cabernet Sauvignon and charge less, but it is not possible to make a good sparkling wine in a similar style to Trentodoc, because we cannot export our climate.”
Indeed, Trentodoc has the dual advantage of making something distinctive and on-trend. With the influence of the mountains and Mediterranean, it can craft a Chardonnay-based sparkling wine style that is hard to imitate as well as in line with a growing demand for refreshing drinks with a fizz. It may be more expensive than Prosecco, but it’s still cheaper than Champagne. That means it is not only an appealing, inimitable alternative to the classic, but also, importantly, a good-value substitute.
Trentino may be absent from the international sparkling wine scene at present, but don’t expect that to last.
Great piece, Patrick! Thank you!