The bubble that won’t be burst!
This Month I was lucky enough to visit the beautiful Prosecco DOCG region in Veneto (Province of Treviso), north east Italy. Upon receiving the offer to fly some of my customers out I kept it no secret from my colleagues about how excited I was at the prospect of seeing first hand one of the most beautiful parts of Italy. On arrival I was not disappointed; after a short drive from Venice airport to the sleepy town of Farra di Soligo we could all see first hand the hundreds of vineyards of all shapes and sizes laid out like a patchwork quilt draped over the almost mountainous, undulating landscape.
Our hosts Perlage Wines (who Vinceremos have been working with for over 15 years) wasted no time in introducing us to a delicious and well chilled glass of Prosecco Brut ‘Canah’ DOCG. As you may imagine this went down extremely well and it wasn’t long before Erika, our guide for the trip and Perlage’s Marketing Manager, was showing us around the cellars and introducing us to the head of the company and both winemakers.
After a most scrumptious lunch of local cheeses and meats we took time to sample a few other wines from the range. Particularly good was the Grappa di Prosecco that was rich, powerful yet as smooth as silk. With our thirsts quenched (almost) and appetites sated we were taxied to our 4 star Hotel in the town.
Rested and ready for action we headed out for dinner. Of course being in Italy it was only right that we sample a few aperitvo! After our lightish pre-dinner refreshments we headed out to a Pizzeria overlooking the stunning Cartizze vineyards renowned as the home of the very best Prosecco vineyards.
Up bright and early the following day (some brighter than others) we went straight to the Perlage cellars to meet Alberto the wine maker who directed us all through the vinification process from harvest to bottle. A truly insightful talk that was all the more effective being amongst all the tanks, vats and machinery involved. To truly understand all the elements involved in the production of Organic Prosecco and hear first hand how much care and attention in needed was a real eye-opener.
From the cellars we headed to the tasting room at around 10.30am, the timing of this working better for some than for others! We were then introduced to the majority of the Perlage range and 2 hours later were ready for our home cooked local lunch. Into the vineyards after lunch to see more beautiful and scenic sights including an interesting stop to a small farmhouse to see some of the ‘Aleph’ Prosecco, made in the traditional champagne method, fascinating. To see the large riddling racks absolutely chocker-block full of the dark almost bell-shaped bottles, neck down with their bottoms up in the air is an impressive sight. A very old-fashioned way of production and so time consuming for Alberto, whose project the wine is, every day having to re-visit the barn to turn each individual bottle by had just a few degrees shows what commitment and dedication is involved.
The winemakers at Perlage are so involved and passionate about the wines produced they stay there 24-7 while the wine is in production. You can really feel how personal it is to them as they gesticulate wide eyed and tell you excitedly about anything you want to ask.
With a refreshed understanding of how Prosecco is produced and more importantly what they taste like, we went back to the hotel to change and set off to Restaurant Casa Caldart for a divine menu degustation with wine. A wonderful meal hosted by the fantastically enthusiastic Erika. What a way to end a wonderful, informative and excruciatingly fun weekend.
The whole trip was absolutely superb and the team at Perlage Wines truly are the most gracious and generous bunch of people. With their very persuasive attitude toward organic production and the environment in general they have always been and will continue to be the bench mark for Organic Prosecco in Italy. I truly look forward to returning to Perlage wines in the future.
Rob Lorains, Vinceremos Organic Wines 22/06/2011