Italian sparkling wine

A Lugana Metodo Classico with superior elegance: Olivini's extra brut made from 100% Turbiana matures for around 36 months on the fine lees and combines freshness, structure and fine complexity. Pale straw yellow in colour with golden reflections and a fine, persistent perlage. On the nose, notes of lemon, white apple and bread crust, subtly accompanied by hints of almond. Clear and dry on the palate, with lively acidity, precise texture and fine mineral tension.

Fine traditional brut from the Lunelli family, who work tirelessly on the authenticity of their Trentino classics. A wide range of aromas and an elegant flavour with a good structure offer first-class enjoyment on many occasions. On the nose, crisp green apple, tangy lemon and a hint of toasted brioche. On the palate, citrus fruits harmonise with white peaches with a subtle hint of minerality. The bubbles are fine and persistent, the finish refreshing and clean. SUPERIORE.DE

107 hectares. That is all. In the entire Denominazione Valdobbiadene, which extends over 15 municipalities and thousands of hectares of steep slopes, there is exactly one hill, which has been demarcated with its own regulations since 1969 – a golden pentagon, as the locals call it, whose plots measure barely two tenths of a hectare on average. Cartizze is the grand cru of the Veneto. Andreola sources his grapes from the "Cartizze Alto" sub-area – the limestone-rich ridge of the hill, where marl and sandstone alternate, the soils are shallow and rich in minerals and the perfect southern exposure balances out the "Alta Collina" climate. The temperatures remain mild and stable – cooler than at the bottom of the valley, warmer than the exposed steep slopes around it. It is precisely this balance that produces a Glera of particular ripeness and aromatic completeness. The grapes come from long-standing contract suppliers who have been supplying Andreola for generations – because Cartizze is not a vineyard that you buy. You cultivate a fraction of it, if you are lucky.

Pale pink with orange reflections. Elegant, fine aroma of flowers and roses, small red berries and herbs and the typical bread and yeast flavour. Very supple on the palate, fresh and forward, the acidity is agile and the mousse is soft and fine. A mouthful of red berries and a very broad range of herb and spice flavours are wonderfully enveloped by a fresh acidity that finishes this very long wine with a fruity, tart and salty note. SUPERIORE.DE

Oudeis – nobody. When the cunning Odysseus outwitted the Cyclops Polyphemus, he gave it this name. Enrico Serafino's Alta Langa bears this name out of humility: no one is responsible for the complexity of this wine – only the terroir. A philosophical bow to the high altitudes of the Alta Langa, the Piedmontese plateau that Enrico Serafino has pioneered the Metodo Classico since 1991. The grapes – 85% Pinot Nero, 15% Chardonnay – come from vineyards between 300 and 550 metres above sea level in the municipalities of Mango, Trezza Tinella, Loazzolo, San Giorgio and Bubbio. After manual harvesting and gentle whole-cluster pressing, the must ferments in stainless steel, followed by six months of bâtonnage. The second fermentation and ageing on the lees takes place over 36 months in the historic underground cellars – protected from light, temperature-controlled, timeless.

In Franciacorta, Satèn stands for pure Chardonnay and a softer carbonic acidity, which gives the wine its unmistakable creaminess. The grapes for the '61 Satèn come from selected Chardonnay parcels that offer optimum ripeness and aromatic fullness. After gentle pressing, the base wine is matured partly in stainless steel tanks and partly in wood before maturing on the lees for at least 24 months. Delicate straw yellow in the glass with a fine, persistent perlage. White flowers, ripe pear, citrus cream and a hint of vanilla on the nose. Silky and smooth on the palate, with harmonious acidity, fine fruit depth and a subtle nutty undertone. The final is long, soft and mineral-accentuated. A Satèn that combines elegance, finesse and style – ideal for special moments and fine cuisine. SUPERIORE.DE

Maximum was one of the first labels created by Giulio Ferrari at the beginning of the 20th century. A Blanc de Blancs with an unmistakable style that still stands for freshness and elegance today. This Trento DOC epitomises the perfect symbiosis between Chardonnay and the mountains of Trentino like no other Casa Ferrari sparkling wine. The grapes come exclusively from carefully selected Chardonnay vineyards on the slopes of the Trentino mountains between 300 and 700 metres above sea level. Facing south-east and south-west, the vines benefit from optimal sunshine and cool nights - ideal conditions for a Chardonnay with structure and finesse. The grapes are harvested by hand in the first half of September, when they have reached perfect aromatic ripeness. Gentle pressing is followed by Metodo Classico vinification with traditional bottle fermentation. The maximum matures on the fine lees for 24 months.

A rosé full of finesse and freshness, in which the signs of tradition and modern harmony come together perfectly. A delicate peach-pink colour with a light mousse in the glass. The bouquet seduces with notes of ripe strawberry, raspberry, exotic flowers and light brioche spice. Juicy, dry and finely structured on the palate: the subtle acidity carries ripe fruit, the yeasty character lends creaminess, while the finish is clear and persistent – with fine minerality and inner tension. A rosé with personality that can be both an aperitif and an accompaniment to food – charming, vertical and stylish in expression. SUPERIORE.DE

Feudi di San Gregorio's DUBL project was born in 2004 from an awareness of the great richness of the autochthonous vines of the Irpinia region and the desire to open up new horizons for them: as a Metodo Classico Spumante or by means of the famous Méthode Champenoise. An advisor was quickly found for this - none other than Anselme Selosse, who is known for his champagnes and his feeling for the particularities of the vines and vineyards.

Maso Michei is located high up in a secluded mountain world in southern Trentino. There, the vines thrive at an altitude of 790 to 850 metres on a sun-drenched south-facing slope in unspoilt nature. In this remarkable location for viticulture, the vines grow slowly and the grapes ripen late. With the acquisition of the 13-hectare Maso Michei vineyard in the Valle dei Ronchi above Ala, Martin Foradori Hofstätter has returned to the roots of his ancestors in Trentino.

An elegant rosé with a playful balance between fine fruit and lively freshness: the Cuvée Imperiale Max Rosé is made from a balanced proportion of Pinot Nero (Saignée method) and Chardonnay, with traditional bottle fermentation and around 24 months of ageing on the lees ensuring a fine texture and expression. In the glass, it is a delicate old rose colour with a bright shimmer and a lively, creamy perlage. The nose opens with redcurrants and raspberries, a hint of red grapefruit and floral nuances such as rose petals. On the palate, the Extra Dry enchants with its racy freshness, compact fruit structure, integrated residual sweetness and delicate flavour. The finish is dry, mineral and long, with a lingering hint of red fruit. Charming, present and stylishly balanced – perfect with salmon, red tuna or as an invigorating aperitif. SUPERIORE.DE

Opera Semplice – a "simple work". But what the three sisters have created here is anything but simple: it is the logical consequence of their Trebbiano obsession, a sparkling wine so radical and uncompromising that it was not actually intended for sale to begin with. An experimental solitaire, produced only in the very best vintages with the finest grapes from their Massifitti vineyard – another milestone in their mission to rehabilitate the almost forgotten grape variety.

While Franciacorta has long enjoyed worldwide fame, a quiet revolution is taking place in the hills of the Alta Langa. Here, where the Piedmontese provinces of Cuneo, Alessandria and Asti stretch towards the Ligurian Apennines, the sparkling wine that impresses connoisseurs with its freshness, precision and mineral depth is produced at an altitude of up to 700 metres. Pecchenino, which has been in family hands since the late 18th century and is traditionally known for its great Dolcetto and Barolo, ventured into this small but fine DOCG in 2012 with impressive success – with impressive success. The name "Psea" refers to the village of Pezzea in the municipality of Bossolasco, where Chardonnay and Pinot Nero are rooted in chalky soils at an altitude of 700 metres. The cool climate with pronounced day-night temperature fluctuations enables optimal ripening while maintaining lively acidity – the freshness that makes Alta Langa so unique. The cuvée of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Nero first undergoes alcoholic fermentation in steel tanks before maturing for nine months in barriques. Bottling is followed by 36 months on the lees before the wine is disgorged as a pas dosé, i.e. without any dosage.

The Andreola family winery in Col San Martino was founded in 1984 by Nazzareno Pola in the heart of the Valdobbiadene wine-growing region. In his honour, a wonderful Prosecco Superiore is produced here every year in small batches, which once again received the highest award in the Gambero Rosso for the 2024 vintage. For Stefano Pola, the Etichetta del Fondatore represents the highest expression of finesse and olfactory elegance that the Glera grape can give in the core zone of Prosecco Superiore – combined with the verticality and juiciness that the soils give it, without ever losing its lightness and drinkability.

This exceptional creation is in the highest spheres of the art of sparkling wine: a Pas Dosé made from 100% Verdicchio – a rarity that only sees the light of day in the best vintages and in limited editions. Originating from the classic hills of the Castelli di Jesi, the noble Verdicchio grape undergoes one of the longest ageing processes in Italian sparkling wine production: it rests on its lees for no less than 60 months. Without liqueur d'expédition after disgorgement, the Spumante presents itself in its uncompromising authenticity – a bold act of purity that brings out the elegant clarity and natural saltiness of Verdicchio unfiltered.

When Giulio Ferrari vinified his first bottles of spumante in Via Belentani in 1902, he dreamed of an Italian sparkling wine on a par with French wines. Today, over 120 years later, this dream has long since become a reality – and Ferrari Rosé is living proof of this. The Fratelli Lunelli have taken the founder's legacy to Alpine perfection. This elegant rosé is made from 60% Pinot Nero and 40% Chardonnay in the high altitudes of Trentino. The vineyards stretch across Val d'Adige, Val di Cembra and Valle dei Laghi, all with south-easterly to south-westerly exposures on the mountain slopes. Here, the grapes benefit from the perfect symbiosis between Alpine freshness and Mediterranean warmth. The Metodo Classico vinification strictly follows French models. After gentle pressing, the first fermentation takes place, followed by traditional bottle fermentation with the winery's own yeasts. The Spumante matures on the lees for at least 20 months – time, which gives the rosé its characteristic creaminess and complexity.

The Chardonnay grapes for Lis Neris' Metodo Classico come from the historic Jurosa vineyard. After the first fermentation in 500-litre barrels, it matures for at least three years in the bottle on the fine lees and develops the nobility and elegance that immediately excited us. On the nose, notes of yeast, light stone fruit, limestone and minerals. In the mouth it is creamy and elegant, blessed with depth and at the same time great freshness, which one would wish for from many a French counterpart. Dom Jurosa is precise, cool and pleasantly dry in its overall appearance, which also makes it an excellent food companion. SUPERIORE.DE

While the white Oudeis captures the complexity of the Alta Langa in its purest form, its pink-coloured brother adds another dimension: the soul of Pinot Nero. Because here it is the red grape alone that expresses the terroir. Saignée, the French word for "bloodletting", describes the method: a short maceration on the skins extracts just enough colour and fruit from the must to achieve that shimmering onion skin tone that shines so seductively in the glass. The grapes come from altitudes between 300 and 550 metres in the municipalities of Bubbio, Loazzolo, Trezzo Tinella and Vesime – the grapes come from calcareous clay soils, which give the wine its mineral tension. After manual harvesting, the grapes are cooled with carbon dioxide snow and the must is left to rest for two to four hours under nitrogen before gentle pressing. This is followed by six months of bâtonnage and 36 months of yeast storage in the historic cellar vaults.

With around two grams of residual sugar, this high-quality spumante from the Alta Langa, which was produced using the champagne method, is a particularly dry representative of its kind. The Chardonnay grapes come from clay and limestone terroir around 450 metres above sea level in the small municipality of Neviglie. Fresh and floral on the nose with beautiful citrus and subtle yeast notes. Fine perlage, harmonious on the palate with a fine creaminess and a multi-layered finish. SUPERIORE.DE

Chiaro di Bolle epitomises Il Borro's bold answer to the question of what Sangiovese is capable of as a sparkling wine – a Tuscan Metodo Classico that redefines the traditional boundaries of the grape variety. As a Blanc de Noir made from 100% Sangiovese, this exceptional sparkling wine fits perfectly into the winery's many years of experimentation with the queen of Tuscan grape varieties and impressively demonstrates the versatility of this terroir-influenced Sangiovese. Vinified according to the classic metodo tradizionale, Chiaro di Bolle undergoes traditional bottle fermentation, which gives Sangiovese a completely new dimension. The organically farmed grapes from Valdarno di Sopra bring their characteristic minerality and freshness, while the careful cellar work transforms the natural elegance of the grape variety into a sparkling lightness.