From: Veneto, Treviso, Italy
Varietal: Glera
Taste: “For most wine drinkers, “Prosecco” is a stand-in for a cold, crisp, sparkling white wine that should be pretty cheap. There’s nothing wrong with that desire, but there is such a large range of wines bearing the Prosecco DOC and DOCG that they are worthy of as much understanding and differentiation as any other style of wine. The Gregoletto family, who makes this Prosecco, has been tending vines in the hills of Premaor di Miane, near Valdobbiadene, since around 1600. Today, the family farms vineyards in Premaor, Miane, Refrontolo, and Rua di Feletto, all of which are communes in the DOCG Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, a small subzone of the much larger Prosecco DOC. The family can’t, however, label their overachieving Prosecco with “DOCG”—the highest classification, generally reserved for sloped vineyards at higher elevation—because they seal their bottles with a crown cap instead of a cork.
Nevertheless, they’ve married their excellent hillside terroirs with painstaking, sui lieviti (or col fondo) vinification practices. They ferment this wine in stainless-steel tanks, bottle it with a little grape must, and allow it to undergo a secondary fermentation in the bottle without disgorging the wine. Even though this technique is traditional, the difficulty of simultaneously following it and making excellent wine means it is avoided by most Prosecco producers today! Gregoletto’s result is a crisp, vibrant, fully dry sparkling wine with notes of fresh apples, lime, and stones. It pairs beautifully with Chris Lee’s recipe for Gougères, which you can find here.”
—Tom Wolf
Pairing: Think of opening this bottle at the beginning of a meal as an aperitif, with said Gougères (posted below), with prawns or shellfish for dinner. Of course, other pairing options abound; some examples are as follows: tempura, sushi, Hamachi Kama, Vietnamese grilled shrimp and vermicelli, salt and pepper tofu or calamari, fried chicken or fish and chips, fluke in lemon brodetto with scallops and squash, a carrot tart with ricotta and feta, light salads with grilled halloumi or chicken breast (or leftover rotisserie chicken), and light pasta or rice dishes.
About. Many thanks to our friends at KLWM for all the info below! The Gregoletto family name can be found in historical archives dating from the late 16th, as viticoltori in the hills of Premaor di Miane, near Valdobbiadene. The family has two real specialties: semi-sparkling wine made sui lieviti or on its lees, and still wine made from grapes most commonly used to make sparkling wine. They are among the very last growers in the Veneto to cultivate the indigenous Verdiso grape, making magnificent tranquillo and sui lieviti bottlings from it. They also make Prosecco in all of its forms: still, demi-sec, semi-sparkling, and metodo classico. The Gregoletto family’s wines are incredibly pure, refreshing, and elegant and can be enjoyed effortlessly. They provide instant pleasure.
All of the family’s work from the vines to the bottling is done by hand—artisanally, carefully, and patiently—based on oral traditions passed down over the centuries. Many of their secrets are closely guarded. The sui lieviti bottlings represent the history of this region before the Champagne method was invented. Secondary fermentation takes place in bottle slowly and a fine sediment forms in the bottom of the bottle–by carefully pouring the wine you can easily leave the sediment in the bottle. The Gregolettos recommend using the small amount of wine with this fondo or remaining deposit for making risotto! Rest assured, it is also perfectly safe to drink.