Premium Vintage Collection in Milan
21 October 2024On October 10th, Bottega presented the Premium Vintage Collection with an exclusive press event in Milan.
The range includes five wines, all Prosecco Extra Brut, but with differences in vintage, fermentation times and other details of the production process.
For each of these sparkling wines, the starting point are grapes cultivated according to sustainable criteria and from single vineyards located in the Prosecco Hills, a UNESCO World Heritage Site from 2019. These are Glera for at least 85 per cent, Chardonnay and Pinot.
The two most innovative elements of the Premium Vintage Collection are vintage and fermentation. Within this range we find several vintages: at this moment 2021, 2022 and 2023. A real novelty in the world of Prosecco, where consumption is normally recommended within a year and a half. By working on the quality of the grapes, their correct handling after the harvest and extending the fermentation time, we obtain wines with greater structure and longevity.
We have thus gone from 40-60 days to 4, 6, 9 and 12 months of fermentation. Not only: from the usual vertical autoclaves we have moved to horizontal ones, more suitable for long fermentations. In other words, a revolution in the panorama of world-famous Veneto bubbles.
The first three wines of the project were tasted at the event: Gold Cru, Gold Extra Brut, and Gold Diamond. Stardust Black and Stardust Gold are still in fermentation, being the two products with fermentation of 9 and 12 months respectively.
The aim of this project is the premiumisation of Prosecco, demonstrating that a quality sparkling wine can evolve over time and has nothing to envy to Italian and foreign classic methods.
To demonstrate Prosecco’s ageing potential, Bottega also offered a vertical tasting of different vintages from 2013 to 2023. Guests were surprised and impressed by the evolution that this sparkling wine can have over time.
This was the first vertical tasting of Prosecco Bottega in Italy, but we had organised other vertical tastings in Toronto (2018) and London (2018 and 2024).
The beautiful location that hosted the event was Terrazza Duomo 21 and Ristorante Verso Capitaneo in Milan. After the tasting, a lunch was followed with dishes by the two starred chefs and wines from the Premium Vintage Collection to match.