Tasting for you: Sparkling wine, part 1: Champagne and Co: The ultimate bubble guide 2023

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Sparkling wine is on the rise! While the growth of bubbles with Rosé continues unabated, the overall wine trend is declining. In 2022, 258 million hectoliters of wine were produced and 232 million hectoliters were consumed worldwide. There was a one percent decrease compared to the previous year. The value of these wines consumed increased by 9 percent to 28 billion euros; This is a record number. And this is primarily thanks to the ever-increasing demand for sparkling wines.

And here Champagne is the main culprit. Demand continued to rise sharply, so that more was sold than produced, driven by the euphoria of the post-pandemic period and strong growth in the US and Japanese markets. So prices skyrocketed. It is possible to observe the same trend in Italy, along with our southern neighbor, the main regions of Franciacorta, Prosecco and Trentino (Trentodoc). Also with the new Sekt Deutschland and Sekt Austria quality seals in the north and west.

Market share of Swiss foamers is very low

Of course, Switzerland is also involved. Demand is increasing here too. And soon every winemaker will produce his own bubbler or produce a bubbler at a winery equipped for this purpose. At least that’s how you feel. However, the quantity level is low in Switzerland. Of the more than 21 million liters of sparkling wine drunk in Switzerland in 2022, the share of Swiss wines is only 2.62 percent. In absolute numbers: Mrs and Mr Schweizer consumed 558,200 liters of bubbles from their country.

Italy is the clear winner of Prosecco with a share of 61 percent, followed by France with almost 24 percent and Spain with less than ten percent. Elsewhere, Austria, Portugal and South Africa each have less than one percent.

Switzerland and South Tyrol: completeness claim

The numbers are enough to increase. Let’s move on to the wines. This special is claimed to have been completed for two regions: Switzerland and South Tyrol, with their high-quality sparkling wines. I have tasted almost every wine produced throughout the year. The best found their way into the story. But we also show what goes on at the top of the world: the exclusive Champagne houses. There’s also some super bubbly stuff from the UK and, and… Enjoy!

The second part of the sparkling wine special is coming before Christmas. Then it’s all about great Proseccos! Christmas is quite festive. The focus is on the best juices. But the motto for New Year’s Eve is: Let’s Party! And a top-shelf Prosecco is your best friend throughout the night. Cheers!

Best Buy means: At least 17.75/20 points. But not 25 francs. Of the hundreds of sparkling wines tasted, only four met these criteria at the same time!

• Brut millésimé Blancs de Blanc 2018 Cave du Tunnel Jacques Germanier Conthey VS (photo): Explosive, clear champagne style, brioche, yeast, light citrus, bready, creamy, depth, great perlage, scones, no more fruit, elegant, drinkable, very long. Cool! 18.5/20 (23.90 francs. www.germanier.com)
• Crémant d’Alsace Brut Nature Reflections 2017 Jean-Claude Buecher: restrained, only minimally yeasty, apple, some citrus, creamy, depth, restrained, simple perlage, now very bready, ethereal, balanced, nice finish. Score: 17.75/20 (23.50 francs. www.studer-vinothek.ch)
• Ferrari Maximum Brut Blanc de Blanc Trentodoc: broad, ethereal nose, fresh, herbal, yellow fruity, deep, creamy, luscious, extremely drinkable, long, fantastic! Score: 17.75/20 (22.80 instead of 28.50 francs. www.bindella.ch)
• Graham Beck Brut Rosé MCC South Africa 2017: light red fruit style, strawberry, everything very subtle, power, lots of citrus now, tart, explosive, slightly yeasty, balanced, excellent structure, long. Big! Score: 17.75/20 (Christmas special: 24.90 instead of 35 francs. www.kapweine.ch)
• Steenberg Chardonnay Brut 1682 MCC South Africa: Beeswax, lots of marzipan, some yeast, citrus, but everything quite restrained, crisp, very fresh, ethereal, now bright, delicate perlage, very bitter towards the end, nice finish. Score: 17.75/20 (24.65 francs. www.kapweine.ch)

Swiss sparkling wines are getting better and better. Following the Champagne trend of France’s winemakers, many of our winemakers have made it their mission to produce a sparkling wine that is close to a good Champagne. Perhaps Switzerland’s number one is Jacques Germanier Cave du Tunnel, the Valais house from Conthey with charismatic oenologist Bruno Geiger, who has been in business for 37 years (!). The first tunnels for bottle storage were dug into the mountain as early as 1989. The winery won the Grand Prix du Vin Suisse category for the fourth year in a row. An incredible performance that represents the highest level of consistency.

But the best tubs at the traditional Mauler house in Môtiers, Neuchâtel, which was founded in 1829 and specializes in bubblers, stand out easily when compared to bubblers from famous foreign countries. And of course the best wines from winemakers who dedicate themselves body and soul to sparkling wines, such as Adank and Obrecht from Bündner Machtum or Bouvet-Jabloir on Lake Neuchâtel and Bovet in Vaud.

And the best part of all this? The price-performance ratio literally blows you away. It starts with Brut millésimé from Cave du Tunnel, perhaps the best Swiss drizzle, at less than 24 francs. How many more drops? The prices of the best lathers from Adank, Bouvet-Jabloir or Bovet are also quite limited at just over 30 francs.

Nowadays, almost every self-respecting company does this: produces sparkling wine. Trendy logo. But in a region where Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are already excellently developed, it makes sense to make sparkling wine one of the core competencies.

The first reference to South Tyrolean sparkling wine dates back to 1902, when the Überetscher champagne cellar in Eppan produced sparkling wine from Riesling grapes. However, due to the annexation of South Tyrol to Italy, the country’s entire wine industry suffered a crisis that brought sparkling wine production to a halt. It wasn’t until the early 1960s that people dared to try fizzy drinks again. Sparkling wine production is being created on a larger scale in South Tyrol, with wineries still remaining important today.

Only premium grape material of controlled origin (DOC) from the basic wine varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir is suitable for the production of South Tyrolean sparkling wine. Produced using a strict and classical method of sparkling wine production.

The pioneer is the legendary Josef Reiterer’s Arunda winery. In 1979 the Reiterer family – Marianne, Josef and Michael – started producing specialty sparkling wine at 1200 m above sea level as the only winery in South Tyrol. Arunda is the highest (sparkling wine) winery in Europe. Here you will find the optimal conditions for maturation and storage of sparkling wines. Height is not a curiosity, it is part of Reiterer’s recipe for success. The base wines come from the limestone soils above Terlan, Überetsch and Salurn. In Arunda they leave them on the yeast for a long time. “It takes at least 24 months to give sparkling wines the richness, elegance and complexity that characterize them,” says Reiterer. And for some selected bathtubs, even this is too short. They lie in the basement for up to 70 months.

Source : Blick