Pink Prosecco could boost sales by 75m bottles
The introduction of pink Prosecco should have a major impact on sales of the Italian sparkling wine, believe key producers of the region.
Presently, rosé Prosecco is not allowed under the regulations of the DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata)
In an interview with the drinks business at Vinitaly last month, Giancarlo Moretti Polegato, who is president of Villa Sandi, said that a rosato version of Prosecco would “make a big difference to sales”, while Guido Federico Rossignoli, the owner of Prosecco producer Azienda Agricola Ritter de Zahony told db more recently that he believed it could add 15% to the global market for the fizz.
If Guido is right, that would represent an extra 75m bottles to the worldwide sales of Prosecco, based on last year’s figures, which saw around 500m bottles sold globally.
Although many Prosecco producers do already produce pink sparkling wines, under the rules of all three consorzios that regulate the production of Prosecco, a rosato fizz, even if it is made using grapes planted in the region, can’t be labelled ‘Prosecco’.
However, it is widely expected that from this year’s harvest, producers within the DOC will be able to label a pink version of this popular fizz as ‘Prosecco’, using a blend of up to 15% red wine made from Pinot Nero (Noir).
As for producers within the smaller DOCGs of Prosecco, which cover the regions of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene and Asolo, db has been informed that pink Prosecco will not be allowed.
Speaking about the change to the rules in the DOC to allow a Prosecco rosato, Giancarlo said, “We have been producing a sparkling rosé for more than 10 years, and it’s made with 85% Glera and 15% Pinot Noir, and because the consorzio intends to allow Prosecco rosé, and with the percentage [of red wine] we have, then all we need to do is change the name on the label.”
When discussing the impact of adding Prosecco to the label of sparkling rosatos from the region, Giancarlo said that it would make a “big difference”, adding, “from a marketing point of view, the name Prosecco will definitely help”.
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Meanwhile, Guido said to db last month, “From a market point of view, there are a lot of talks concerning the possibility to open the disciplinary of production of Prosecco to a certain amount of Pinot Noir to blend with Glera to produce a Prosecco Rosé.”
And, he added that “Studies specify that the Prosecco Rosé could reach some 10 to 15% additional market,” which he said “could be a good opportunity,” as long as it’s “strictly regulated and controlled as for normal Prosecco.”
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