Prosecco: Traders of the lost arc

Over the past decade, no style of wine has achieved the same level of growth, devotion or attention as Prosecco. It’s as if the slightly sweet, peach and pear-laced fizz can do no wrong.

It’s as if the slightly sweet, peach and pear-laced fizz can do no wrong. Rumours of potential shortages and price increases invariably send the internet into a panic, and supermarket stampedes to secure cut-price bottles have become national news, while warnings of a ‘Prosecco smile’, caused by drinking too much (of any sparkling beverage, it should be noted), are met with a collective shrugging of shoulders – heaven forbid anything should spoil our love affair with Italy’s famed fizz.

This year it even graced the silver screen as the focus of a new independent thriller set deep in the hills of Northern Italy, titled, appropriately, As Long as There is Prosecco, There is Hope.

As much as the trade might try to predict the bursting of its bubble, Prosecco’s growth shows no signs of levelling off, and is expected to continue its stratospheric rise until at least 2021. According to Vinexpo’s latest IWSR report, sparkling wine in the UK, driven by Prosecco, has increased from 8.7 million nine-litre cases in 2011 to 14.1m cases in 2016 – an increase of 67% – with consumption predicted to grow to 16.15m cases by 2021.

Globally, Prosecco volumes are expected to rise from 7m nine-litre cases in 2006 to a projected 40m in 2021 – an increase of 471% in 15 years – up from 27m in 2016. This compares with Champagne, which is expected to maintain 24m nine-litre cases to 2021, and Cava, which is forecast to add 1m cases, taking it to 22m, by 2021.

Uncomfortable truth

It’s a textbook tale of triumph. But Prosecco’s soaring success masks an uncomfortable truth; while vast quantities are being consumed, the majority is bought not on the basis of its historic story, regional character or even quality, but because of its easy-drinking, uncomplicated and inexpensive charm.

Few consumers, to their loss, hold any appreciation, or interest, in the nuances of style between a Prosecco DOC, DOCG, Cartizze or Rive, or, more importantly, a desire to pay more for a higher-quality expression. Good timing, stand-out packaging and a simple message has been the key to Prosecco’s success.

But its approachable nature doesn’t mean it’s all the same, or that there isn’t rich diversity to be found across its multitude of sub-regions, or at higher price points. As Alex Canetti, off-trade director at Berkmann Wine Cellars, says, people are missing out on the “most amazing, stylish wines with a hint of floral or herbal character and thyme”, that can come with wines higher up the price ladder.

“In a blind tasting you can detect Asolo fairly easily – it’s a rounder, more gutsy style,” he says. “Valdobbiadene in general has more elegance and more finesse. Cartizze has much more acidity and concentration, so there are definitely differences that the average consumer will pick up on as Prosecco becomes more sophisticated. Remember, Champagne has been doing this for hundreds of years. Prosecco has been doing it for 20. It’s a relatively new industry, but the potential is there.”

The problem is that even if consumers were open to exploring wines higher up the price scale, so few are exposed to different styles, thanks in part to the category’s price-sensitive nature, particularly in the UK, believes Sebastiano Bonomo, export manager of Giusti.

“Most Prosecco is consumed for its price, which makes them of the same quality,” he explains. It means that much of Prosecco is competing at the same price point, and so there is very little distinction of quality or style to

be found. “For this reason all Prosecco can seem the same to the consumer, as the market is more price-oriented,” adds Bonomo. “They can spend £5-£6 on a bottle at retail, and would never spend £8 on a glass of Prosecco in a restaurant – they want it for £5, because at the supermarket you have that choice. We have to get out of the idea of Prosecco being a commodity.”

Race to the bottom?

The success of Prosecco leaves producers in something of a quandary; give consumers what they want and pursue volume over value, but risk a race to the bottom, knowing that Prosecco will reach its production limit; or work to better communicate the quality and diversity of Prosecco to elevate its reputation in a bid to prevent it from becoming trapped as a commodity and precariously replaceable.

“Prosecco is a brand – it’s accessible and easy to understand,” says Matt Smith, Italian wine buyer for Bibendum. “But that’s also its weakness, as the Prosecco brand is stronger than any of the individual producer brands. We believe that having a premium offer is the way forward, and producers like Bisol have always focused hard on that. To ensure longevity of sales, Prosecco needs to diversify itself, while individual producers need to build stronger brands. Consumers need to be educated in the differences between more generic DOC Prosecco, compared with site-specific DOCG; about the impact of yields and origin. To gain momentum, premium Prosecco needs to allow and convince consumers to trade up to higher-priced, premium expressions, rather than trading up to Champagne.”

In 2016, the Prosecco DOC Consorzio confirmed that it would be allocating a further 3,000 hectares of vines to growers within the Prosecco DOC over the next three years, increasing the area of DOC vines from 20,000ha to 23,000ha and enabling production capacity to increase by around 10%-15%. Elsewhere, the Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG introduced its Rive classification in 2009, alongside Cartizze, demonstrating its goal of better emphasising the character of increasingly smaller sub-regions.

Differences in terroir

However, even in the volume-driven Prosecco DOC, the largest and most generic indicator of quality, differences in terroir are distinct, says Sandro Bottega, owner and managing director of Bottega. Spread across 23,000ha in the north east of Italy, it encompasses five provinces in Veneto (Treviso, Venice, Vicenza, Padua, and Belluno) and four provinces in Friuli Venezia Giulia (Gorizia, Pordenone, Trieste and Udine), with its vineyards largely located on flatter plains.

“In this wide area there is significant diversity of soils and climate that are reflected in the wines,” says Bottega. “The best Prosecco is produced with grapes grown in the the northern area, closer to the pre-Alps, as it is drier and better ventilated, and, above all, there is a higher temperature range during the period of maturation. Those Proseccos are more characteristic, floral and fruity (predominantly pear and green apple scents).

Northern soils are richer in minerals, less deep, and allow higher acidity levels, which is the backbone of a good sparkling wine. The soils and the climate at the foot of the mountains are favourable to the accumulation of potassium and magnesium-based mineral salts in the grapes, which lends the wines a mineral dimension. Prosecco produced in the flat land, towards the sea, has aromas of ripe fruits and is less floral.”

Similarly, Francesco Zonin, vice-president of Zonin1821, notes an increasing appreciation of terroir and site selection among producers that has coincided with, or resulted from, a greater focus in the vineyard, which has, in turn, led to increasing quality across the board.

“In the past, traditional winemaking did not give big value to the differences in the production site, but today producers succeed in giving a more typical imprint to their sparkling wines,” he says. “As producers we look for production sites where expanded viticulture is not practiced. In our small sites in the north of Veneto and in Friuli we can obtain more aromatic and expressive wines. The communication of regional difference across Prosecco creates new interest for members of the trade. If used in a smart way, it can certainly enrich how Prosecco is perceived, showing its different facets. Sub-regions are a great opportunity to cast new light on Prosecco.”

In comparison, the much smaller Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG spans just 6,600ha across the Treviso province of Veneto on the hills between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, with its vineyards planted on more sloping aspects. It’s also home to the Prosecco Superiore di Cartizze – an even steeper hillside of 107ha of vineyards that is considered to produce the most concentrated expressions of Prosecco.

A more controversial addition to the DOCG’s stable of classifications has been 43 ‘rive’ – single-vineyard sites intended to highlight even smaller and steeper distinct sites based on their geographical characteristics. Comparable in standing to a grand cru vineyard in Champagne, rive production increased by 151% from 2010 to 2016, according to Innocente Nardi, president of the Consortium Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG. However, they are yet to make their mark on the international market.

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“The rive have been identified with the logic that each of them highlights the specific features of a given sub-zone,” says Nardi. “Therefore, some of them will have a more floral character typical of the area near Valdobbiadene, while others highlight the sapidity of the area near Conegliano.”

Despite willing among some producers, and a long-term vision for their potential, in reality the rive concept is understood more full at a local, rather than an international level, with Cartizze still the better-known top tier of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG.

“Personally, I love rive,” states Canetti. “It’s much more complicated. No-one understands what a rive is, but they are often the best wines because they are from single plots. I think it’s going to take 10 years before anyone understands it.”

Mirroring Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG in terms of quality is Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG, located to the south west of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, near the town of Asolo. The region generally produces fruitier styles than the more famous Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG. From 2013 to 2016, production increased by 569%, reaching about 8m bottles in 2016, according to the Consorzio Vini Asolo Montello.

Giusti is one of an increasing number of producers banging the drum for this tiny region. In Giusti’s case, Bonomo believes Asolo’s success lies in its differentiation from Prosecco. “Asolo is not easy because Prosecco is a commodity,” he says. “When you are at a bar or

restaurant in London you ask for a Prosecco – you don’t ask for a DOCG or a Cartizze. In the future I would like to see people asking for a glass of Asolo, without referencing Prosecco. That way we divide ourselves from the mass of Prosecco as a commodity and present ourselves as Asolo. If more people start ordering Asolo because they like its distinctive mineral character and structure then I think there is a massive opportunity for Giusti.”

Style over quality

Importantly, Bonomo believes the way forward for Prosecco is to distinguish its sub-regions by style, rather than quality, which he believes will help simplify its message on sub-regions.

“Cartizze is coming from the hills and is a sweeter wine, with a sugar level of often more than 18g/litre. The style of Asolo is in the opposite direction – drier and with more minerality. This can be an opportunity for Asolo, so that consumers might ask for Asolo because they prefer its style. Honestly, I think it will come very soon.”

Compared with other wine regions of the world, Prosecco does not have an excessive number of classifications or sub-regions. The stumbling block could be the fact Prosecco is beloved because of its simplicity, not in spite of it, with some producers questioning the value of sub-regional difference.
“Adding so many sub-appellations is a cause of confusion,” believes Paolo Lasagni, managing director of Bosco Viticultori. “If we talk to an educated consumer or an MW they can appreciate the differences between the many sub-regions. Otherwise it’s just confusing, especially if you look at the production potential of the rives, which is very limited. People like to see a clear message. I am not against fragmentation of the DOCG area, but a single division between DOC and DOCG and also Cartizze is more than enough, from a consumer’s point of view.”

In contrast, Gianluca Bisol, president of Bisol, is confident that a greater focus on sub-regional difference will help move the category forward. Far from a distraction to the success of Prosecco, he says it is what increasingly engaged consumers are demanding.

“It is the market and the consumers themselves who are asking us for more information regarding the characteristics and the quality of the various types of Prosecco,” says Bisol, comparing the region’s quality hierarchy with that of Champagne.

“Each one is finding its best position on the market, and just as Champagne is subdivided into Cru, Premier Cru and Grand Cru, Prosecco DOC, DOCG, the Rive and Cartizze take their positions to form the quality pyramid from which all wine lovers can select the Prosecco most suited to their tastes and needs.”

Comprehensive list

The on-trade has an important role to play in the meaningful communication of this pyramid, says Bonomo, who notes that, thus far, international restaurants on the whole have failed to offer consumers a comprehensive Prosecco list as they would for Champagne.

“You don’t really see a Prosecco list in restaurants – just one or two options,” he says. “If more restaurants had a wine list for Prosecco, which included DOC, DOCG, Cartizze, DOCG Asolo and so on, both the trade and consumers might start to see the potential of Asolo as a different product of the market and the diversity within Prosecco, and there would be more choice in restaurants.”

Simple apathy is another obstacle for producers, with the category driven by consumers that invariably prize price before brand loyalty or quality. But Canetti believes this will change as Prosecco reaches its natural production limit. “Because of the structure of the industry and because of the pressure points coming from retailers, suppliers and restaurants there will be more Valdobbiadene and Conigliaro sold, and I think people will realise that difference in quality and will be willing to pay more. People aren’t going to pay much more. We are talking £11-£13, but that’s still cheaper than Champagne and Franciacorta.”

Growth potential

Looking ahead, supermarkets will play a big role in helping the consumer to look beyond a £5-£7 bottle, says Canetti, who is optimistic about the growth potential of Prosecco at the higher end of the market, as well those from sub-regions.

“It will come from three sides; the suppliers forcing the retailers to trade up, and also the Italian restaurants in selling better-quality wines. Supermarkets have taken on Prosecco big time but what they will be forced to do if they want to keep their allocation will be to offer a Taste the Difference or Simply Irresistible brand, for example, which is already happening, and that will be Valdobbiadene or Conigliaro. They will do that of their own accord because Prosecco sells. If I were a supplier to one of the big supermarkets, I would be saying ‘yes you can buy your 300,000 cases but you should also look at this high-quality Prosecco’.

I think that will happen, and I think restaurants will push better-quality wines in order to differentiate themselves from supermarkets. What we have seen up until now is everyone going for the cheap stuff, but because Prosecco is an agricultural product with finite resources, suppliers will have enough power to move everyone up. It was difficult with Cava because there was no definition within the DO that took you higher, other than a well-known brand. There’s enough power in Prosecco to allow the producers to encourage good retailers to make that step up. Prosecco is in a very strong position, so I’m quietly optimistic.”