Not all Prosecco is frivolous, and the best deserves to be paired with caviar!
I got waylaid writing up this article. Originally I was going to use this as an end of summer feature; talking about ending the season of the most frivolous wines with a transition to what is arguably the most frivolous wine: Prosecco. I mean no disrespect to the brand writ large, and in particular the myriad fine producers who approach their winemaking with as much seriousness and vigor as one will find in any region, but the truth is that the sea of perfectly fine and ordinary Prosecco has created a rather frivolous market image.
This, for better or worse, has not been a rare occurrence in the wine world, though never as successful and complete as one finds here. It is partially the large producers fault, though they are just fulfilling demand. The real blame lays at the wholesale level where importers opt to sell the more profitable, and easier sold major brands. I get it, no hand selling involved, good margins, constant availability, but being a good wine seller really requires one to go an extra step or two. Sell that frivolous stuff, by all means, make people happy, but why can’t you do us all a favor and offer enough fine quality Prosecco so that it can achieve a certain diffusion in the marketplace.
Case in point, and trying not to be repetitive, Col Vetoraz. I’ve written about them before, and have been aware of them and sold their products two decades ago! That’s not something I want to think about, but I digress. Here we are two decades later and Col Vetoraz remains confined to the NY metro market and Florida, as far as a query to winesearcher revels. Why?
Seriously, why?
This is serious wine, with a broad portfolio, and only two products are available, their Brut and Cartizze, and only in 2 markets. To me this is indicative of something wrong with the market, but this surprises no one I’m sure.
So, I can only do what I can to help, and what I can do is try and raise awareness of these fine wines. I was very fortunate to be able to visit the property this past May and was treated to a full tour as is typical of these visits, but there was a special presentation that fundamentally flipped the script on the frivolity of Prosecco. A caviar and prosecco pairing master class. Now, this was amazing. Champagne and caviar are often offered together but I never was particularly convinced by the pairing. The autolytic character of the Champagne seemed to clash with umami nature of the caviar on my palate. Yes, the bubbles and the balls had a certain affinity, and the creme fraiche formed a certain bridge, but the best pairings were typically the wines with the best freshness. You know what is a particularly fresh sparkling wine?
Exactly.
Prosecco not only paired remarkably well with caviar, but each wine had a caviar that it paired best with. The fruitiness of the wine tended to offer superb contrast to the salinity and umami of the roe. It was really an aya opener. Here’s a short rundown of the day’s events, and of course some of the wines are not available in the US market, you’re lucky if you can find them in your markets, but the whole point at hand is to try and push people to demand more from their retailers, who in turn might be able to put pressure on importers to offer us a broader selection of the top wines of Prosecco. We should start a petition!
This, for better or worse, has not been a rare occurrence in the wine world, though never as successful and complete as one finds here. It is partially the large producers fault, though they are just fulfilling demand. The real blame lays at the wholesale level where importers opt to sell the more profitable, and easier sold major brands. I get it, no hand selling involved, good margins, constant availability, but being a good wine seller really requires one to go an extra step or two. Sell that frivolous stuff, by all means, make people happy, but why can’t you do us all a favor and offer enough fine quality Prosecco so that it can achieve a certain diffusion in the marketplace.
Case in point, and trying not to be repetitive, Col Vetoraz. I’ve written about them before, and have been aware of them and sold their products two decades ago! That’s not something I want to think about, but I digress. Here we are two decades later and Col Vetoraz remains confined to the NY metro market and Florida, as far as a query to winesearcher revels. Why?
Seriously, why?
This is serious wine, with a broad portfolio, and only two products are available, their Brut and Cartizze, and only in 2 markets. To me this is indicative of something wrong with the market, but this surprises no one I’m sure.
So, I can only do what I can to help, and what I can do is try and raise awareness of these fine wines. I was very fortunate to be able to visit the property this past May and was treated to a full tour as is typical of these visits, but there was a special presentation that fundamentally flipped the script on the frivolity of Prosecco. A caviar and prosecco pairing master class. Now, this was amazing. Champagne and caviar are often offered together but I never was particularly convinced by the pairing. The autolytic character of the Champagne seemed to clash with umami nature of the caviar on my palate. Yes, the bubbles and the balls had a certain affinity, and the creme fraiche formed a certain bridge, but the best pairings were typically the wines with the best freshness. You know what is a particularly fresh sparkling wine?
Exactly.
Prosecco not only paired remarkably well with caviar, but each wine had a caviar that it paired best with. The fruitiness of the wine tended to offer superb contrast to the salinity and umami of the roe. It was really an aya opener. Here’s a short rundown of the day’s events, and of course some of the wines are not available in the US market, you’re lucky if you can find them in your markets, but the whole point at hand is to try and push people to demand more from their retailers, who in turn might be able to put pressure on importers to offer us a broader selection of the top wines of Prosecco. We should start a petition!
Col Vetoraz Rifugio Faloria Caviar Giaveri pairing event
Caviar Giaveri is one of Italy’s premier caviar producers, and unbeknownst to me Italy is second only to China in annual caviar production. That surprised me. Giaveri has 45 years of farmed caviar production under their belt, utilizing four farms in the Treviso area, which is just north of Venice and of course home, to Prosecco production.
Above the ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo, where James Melendez regaled us with a walking tour of James Bond’s For You Eyes Only filming locations, we were brought together in the magnificent cablecar stop/ restaurant Rifugio Faloria, to be treated to four varieties of Italian caviar and equal number of wines with pairing suggestions; what follows are simply my opinions but I did find the caviar to be of excellent quality and the pairings mostly quite compelling.
Rifugio Faloria caviar pairing
Siberian Classic Caviar with Col Vetoraz Cuvee 5 Prosecco
Caviar: A little saline, long mineral notes, gently sweet on the palate.
The caviar really reduces the fruitiness here. Its like oysters with a sweet backdrop. Lovely complementary pairing, low key and sophisticated. Great for a small group, just relaxing with some caviar and bubbles.
Beluga Siberian Caviar with Col Vetoraz Brut Prosecco
Caviar: Creamy, buttery, very fine with a luxurious fishiness
Texturally these pair well but theres more of a contrasting relationship here with the caviar highlighting the fruitiness of the wine. A good pairing for more of party scene where perhaps there is a greater variety of foods on offer.
Osietra Caviar with Col Vetoraz Extra Dry Prosecco
Caviar: Sweet, almondy as suggested by our host Maurizio, almost candied notes. Less salty
We are back to complementary here but based on textural compatibility. The richness of the flavors match very well. This might be my favorite. The fruit is corralled by the flavors and richness of the caviar, finishes with great length. A beautiful pairing, and one that wold form a fabulous amuse bouche or appetizer. Bold and rich.
Golden Sterlet Caviar and Col Vetoraz Cartizze Prosecco
Caviar: Saline and stronger fish flavors. Decidedly marine, with depth and complexity. Fascinating that this is a contrasting pairing as the wine and caviar fight each other a bit, each being so decisively flavored. There’s a ton of intensity, depth and complexity here. Honestly I prefer the more subtle pairings, but that is my personal preference.
A few takeaways:
At the end of the day the Extra Dry is the most flexible across the caviar range.
The most accessible pairing was the first for the saline, mineral, and racy interplay.
As the caviar gained richness it needed to be met with richer, buttery textures.
The Cartizze shows its assertiveness in the lineup, dominating the more delicate flavors of the caviar. Even with the Golden Sterlet, which was a bit a battle of giants.
I loved this tasting for it’s surprising results, but I also found it fascinating how easily I was able to slot each pairing into a meal or menu. That is part of the beauty of Prosecco. It’s easy to like, easy to enjoy, and easy to share.
Col Vetoraz background and wines
1993 was the inaugural vintage for Col Vetoraz, when they produced approximately 300,000 bottles. Quite a way to start! Production has moved to about one million bottles today, though they have the capacity to produce roughly double that.
Drawing on 102 vineyards covering a total of 107 hectares, Col Vetoraz works with grapes harvested throughout the historic Cartizze region, and in fact their winery is located on the top of the Cartizze hill. This is one of the fundamental reasons that helps to differential these wines from the oceans of Prosecco produced today. These are steep hills, rugged terrain, blessed with soil which offers an important mix of sandstone, calcareous stone, and silex, all contributing to the complexity, minerality, and above all, elegance of these wines. The vast majority of Prosecco comes from alluvial flood plains offering vigor to the vines and a very economical way of cultivation. Working these hillsides is not easy, certainly not economical, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the people willing to do the work.
The work is also quite spread out, as Cartizze is very fragmented with 0,6 h as the average holding making up the 107 hectares, split between approximately 200 owners, utilized by Col Vetoraz. There are about 50 producers of Cartizze, compared to over 400 producers of Prosecco Valdobbiadene in general, and while Col Vetoraz is only the 15th largest producer of DOCG Prosecco, they are the only large producer bottling only DOCG Prosecco!
So they are sort of big small operation, the three principles all backed by the Miotto family, though Col Vetoraz definitely feels like a typical family operation, one gets the sense that patriarch and co-founder Francesco Miotto tends to get his way around here, after all this is his family estate with roots reaching back to 1838. Jointly they decided in 2000 to make the move towards a more quality driven model.
The quality starts, of course, in the vineyard, where they are blessed to have access to a patchwork of different elevations, expositions, and soil types which allows them to to maintain a certain consistency across vintages, though as the notes below from our vertical tasting show, there is consistency, but the character of the vintage is allowed to shine through. They are trying to make great wine here, not the same wine. That is worth remembering.
Once the fruit has been harvested, free run juice is collected and allowed to decant for 18-20 hours at 13-14 degrees celsius. There is a second pressing that is sold off in bulk as it doesn’t meet the high standards in place here. The solids present in the juice at this stage add important aromatic precursors to the juice and structural elements. Col Vetoraz’s winemaker, and our host for the winery tour Loris Dall’Acqua was adamant that this is a fundamental step to making the best wines, and like brewing tea, one can under-steep, or over-steep the brew. In this case 18-20 hours is seen as ideal for full extraction. One of the elements extracted during this stage are colloidal proteins, which helps to captures the gas in Prosecco, giving their finished wine smaller bubbles and a creamy mousse. So they they strive to keep the juice as intact as possible.
After the juice is allowed to decant, it is separated off it’s solids and moved to refrigerated 20,000 liter tanks.where it undergoes a primary first ferment at 10 degrees celsius to preserve freshness and perfumes. It takes approximately 10-11 days to ferment to dry, after which it sits for 20 days on it’s gross lees, with occasionally stirring, as they extract additional aromatic elements and structural compounds, before being decanted off the gross lees, at which point temperatures are lowered to 8 degrees, where it remains until the wine undergoes its secondary fermentation.
Throughout the first stage of the production process each lot of wine is kept separate, which facilitates a strict selection process to see which lot is best suited to each bottling based on potential and the evolutionary prospective of each lot. Equilibrium, harmony and elegance are the objectives here, and the selection process strives to bottle that consistently for each label, year in year out, which helps explain why one third to one half of each year's production is sold off in bulk.
Autoclaves used for the second ferment are 10,000 liters which can be bottled in a single day here, further ensuring a fresh, uniform final product.
Indigenous yeast, in the form of a pied de cuve,is used for the primary fermentation, while the second ferment is a selected Bayanus yeast which kills ceravisae, so as to avoid the estery banana notes that late stage ceravisae produces. This co-inoculation preserves the fruity floral notes while avoiding exotic fruit aromas. The only additions used in the winemaking are natural yeast nutrients and some sulphur addition.
1993 was the inaugural vintage for Col Vetoraz, when they produced approximately 300,000 bottles. Quite a way to start! Production has moved to about one million bottles today, though they have the capacity to produce roughly double that.
Drawing on 102 vineyards covering a total of 107 hectares, Col Vetoraz works with grapes harvested throughout the historic Cartizze region, and in fact their winery is located on the top of the Cartizze hill. This is one of the fundamental reasons that helps to differential these wines from the oceans of Prosecco produced today. These are steep hills, rugged terrain, blessed with soil which offers an important mix of sandstone, calcareous stone, and silex, all contributing to the complexity, minerality, and above all, elegance of these wines. The vast majority of Prosecco comes from alluvial flood plains offering vigor to the vines and a very economical way of cultivation. Working these hillsides is not easy, certainly not economical, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the people willing to do the work.
The work is also quite spread out, as Cartizze is very fragmented with 0,6 h as the average holding making up the 107 hectares, split between approximately 200 owners, utilized by Col Vetoraz. There are about 50 producers of Cartizze, compared to over 400 producers of Prosecco Valdobbiadene in general, and while Col Vetoraz is only the 15th largest producer of DOCG Prosecco, they are the only large producer bottling only DOCG Prosecco!
So they are sort of big small operation, the three principles all backed by the Miotto family, though Col Vetoraz definitely feels like a typical family operation, one gets the sense that patriarch and co-founder Francesco Miotto tends to get his way around here, after all this is his family estate with roots reaching back to 1838. Jointly they decided in 2000 to make the move towards a more quality driven model.
The quality starts, of course, in the vineyard, where they are blessed to have access to a patchwork of different elevations, expositions, and soil types which allows them to to maintain a certain consistency across vintages, though as the notes below from our vertical tasting show, there is consistency, but the character of the vintage is allowed to shine through. They are trying to make great wine here, not the same wine. That is worth remembering.
Once the fruit has been harvested, free run juice is collected and allowed to decant for 18-20 hours at 13-14 degrees celsius. There is a second pressing that is sold off in bulk as it doesn’t meet the high standards in place here. The solids present in the juice at this stage add important aromatic precursors to the juice and structural elements. Col Vetoraz’s winemaker, and our host for the winery tour Loris Dall’Acqua was adamant that this is a fundamental step to making the best wines, and like brewing tea, one can under-steep, or over-steep the brew. In this case 18-20 hours is seen as ideal for full extraction. One of the elements extracted during this stage are colloidal proteins, which helps to captures the gas in Prosecco, giving their finished wine smaller bubbles and a creamy mousse. So they they strive to keep the juice as intact as possible.
After the juice is allowed to decant, it is separated off it’s solids and moved to refrigerated 20,000 liter tanks.where it undergoes a primary first ferment at 10 degrees celsius to preserve freshness and perfumes. It takes approximately 10-11 days to ferment to dry, after which it sits for 20 days on it’s gross lees, with occasionally stirring, as they extract additional aromatic elements and structural compounds, before being decanted off the gross lees, at which point temperatures are lowered to 8 degrees, where it remains until the wine undergoes its secondary fermentation.
Throughout the first stage of the production process each lot of wine is kept separate, which facilitates a strict selection process to see which lot is best suited to each bottling based on potential and the evolutionary prospective of each lot. Equilibrium, harmony and elegance are the objectives here, and the selection process strives to bottle that consistently for each label, year in year out, which helps explain why one third to one half of each year's production is sold off in bulk.
Autoclaves used for the second ferment are 10,000 liters which can be bottled in a single day here, further ensuring a fresh, uniform final product.
Indigenous yeast, in the form of a pied de cuve,is used for the primary fermentation, while the second ferment is a selected Bayanus yeast which kills ceravisae, so as to avoid the estery banana notes that late stage ceravisae produces. This co-inoculation preserves the fruity floral notes while avoiding exotic fruit aromas. The only additions used in the winemaking are natural yeast nutrients and some sulphur addition.
2007-2023 a vertical tasting of Col Vetoraz Prosecco Brut
So this is something you don’t see everyday: a virtual tasting of Prosecco, and with good reason. So much of what is bottled as Prosecco probably has a reasonable shelf life of a year, maybe two. There is simply not much to most of these wines. Here is where the details work to Col Vetoraz's advantage. The soil, exposition, altitudes, cold maceration, and general attention to detail all come into play here, and the extended life span of Col Vetoraz Prosecco is a clear indication of the special nature of these wines.
The vintages in this tasting were chosen to represent the range of summer climates, median temperatures, and rainfall between July and August. Col Vetoraz takes advantage of breadth of vineyard sites in order to avoid issues like hail, rain, and the generally fickle nature of, well, nature! Their solution to ensure consistent production is to have an excess of production! There is no substitute for working with the best fruit each vintage, and it certainly shows in this tasting.
2007: A fresh vintage and medium rainy, 40 days above 30 degrees all summer, July to September saw 600 mm of rain.
Quite golden color, but no sign of excessive oxidation, Honeycomb, hazelnut, dried flowers, some oatmeal notes, a hint of cinnamon spice, yellow cherry treacle, has some sweetness of oxidation, a rather large scaled, creamy and long mouthfeel, jammy pear fruit dominates the finish. Bright, rich with golden and dried fruit character, good minerality, lots of brioche on the finish.
2009: A warm vintage, 60 days above 30 degrees, 700mm of rain
Aromatics are simpler, fresher perhaps, but lacks the complexity of the 2007, subtle, red herbal notes, bright and vivid in the mouth, retaining freshness and vestiges of fresh fruit, which gains impressive intensity on the backend and through the lemon curd tinged finale.
2010: Fresh with lots of rain
Much more austere on the nose, more mineral driven with a fine, subtle blend of some of the spiciness of the 2007 and the dried herbal character of the 2009. Rigid in the mouth, very firm, quite perfumed in the mouth, very fresh and rather crisp style that shows lots of aromatic evolution, though I would be very interested in follow the evolution here.
2013: A medium hot vintage with little rainfall.
Color changes here, much less yellow, more green reflections. Gauzy on the nose, a touch of smokiness, a little chalky, brie rind, crisp, still very lively, and fresh has gained some creaminess with lots of lemon/lime character. This is firm, racy, long and fresh, lovely balance, really a winner for me, the older vintages are more difficult to enjoy, this is a fine middle ground between fresh and hints of evolution.
2015: Another medium hot vintage with little rainfall.
And now were are in fruit land again, pears, flowers, a touch of spice, a hint of apricot glaze. In the mouth this is a bit creamy, more relaxed than the 2010, but not by much, retaining super tension that leads to a long finish which is rather mineral toned and laced with dried citrus peels. Shows really lovely tension.
2016: A very warm year with lots of rain 65 days over 30 degrees, 800 mm of rain.
A fair amount of brioche emerges on the nose along with dried citron peel, and green apple. Rather large scaled, clear on the palate with more fruit both up front and on the backend.
2019: A medium hot year, very normal, with lots of rain.
Substantially creamy mousse, fading fresh fruit, pear fruit, minerality, subtle, fruity and sweet tasting, lovely if a touch faded but well balanced, harmonious and elegant, long and fresh with a hint of pineapple with the acidity.
2023: A medium hot year with medium rainfall, a balanced growing season.
Current release
Very perfumed, lots of fruit and lots of floral notes, white flowers, bright, all fruit and flowers in the mouth as well, though well underpinned by mineral notes, very well knit, easy drinking but not simple, lemon/lime, lipstick.
So this is something you don’t see everyday: a virtual tasting of Prosecco, and with good reason. So much of what is bottled as Prosecco probably has a reasonable shelf life of a year, maybe two. There is simply not much to most of these wines. Here is where the details work to Col Vetoraz's advantage. The soil, exposition, altitudes, cold maceration, and general attention to detail all come into play here, and the extended life span of Col Vetoraz Prosecco is a clear indication of the special nature of these wines.
The vintages in this tasting were chosen to represent the range of summer climates, median temperatures, and rainfall between July and August. Col Vetoraz takes advantage of breadth of vineyard sites in order to avoid issues like hail, rain, and the generally fickle nature of, well, nature! Their solution to ensure consistent production is to have an excess of production! There is no substitute for working with the best fruit each vintage, and it certainly shows in this tasting.
2007: A fresh vintage and medium rainy, 40 days above 30 degrees all summer, July to September saw 600 mm of rain.
Quite golden color, but no sign of excessive oxidation, Honeycomb, hazelnut, dried flowers, some oatmeal notes, a hint of cinnamon spice, yellow cherry treacle, has some sweetness of oxidation, a rather large scaled, creamy and long mouthfeel, jammy pear fruit dominates the finish. Bright, rich with golden and dried fruit character, good minerality, lots of brioche on the finish.
2009: A warm vintage, 60 days above 30 degrees, 700mm of rain
Aromatics are simpler, fresher perhaps, but lacks the complexity of the 2007, subtle, red herbal notes, bright and vivid in the mouth, retaining freshness and vestiges of fresh fruit, which gains impressive intensity on the backend and through the lemon curd tinged finale.
2010: Fresh with lots of rain
Much more austere on the nose, more mineral driven with a fine, subtle blend of some of the spiciness of the 2007 and the dried herbal character of the 2009. Rigid in the mouth, very firm, quite perfumed in the mouth, very fresh and rather crisp style that shows lots of aromatic evolution, though I would be very interested in follow the evolution here.
2013: A medium hot vintage with little rainfall.
Color changes here, much less yellow, more green reflections. Gauzy on the nose, a touch of smokiness, a little chalky, brie rind, crisp, still very lively, and fresh has gained some creaminess with lots of lemon/lime character. This is firm, racy, long and fresh, lovely balance, really a winner for me, the older vintages are more difficult to enjoy, this is a fine middle ground between fresh and hints of evolution.
2015: Another medium hot vintage with little rainfall.
And now were are in fruit land again, pears, flowers, a touch of spice, a hint of apricot glaze. In the mouth this is a bit creamy, more relaxed than the 2010, but not by much, retaining super tension that leads to a long finish which is rather mineral toned and laced with dried citrus peels. Shows really lovely tension.
2016: A very warm year with lots of rain 65 days over 30 degrees, 800 mm of rain.
A fair amount of brioche emerges on the nose along with dried citron peel, and green apple. Rather large scaled, clear on the palate with more fruit both up front and on the backend.
2019: A medium hot year, very normal, with lots of rain.
Substantially creamy mousse, fading fresh fruit, pear fruit, minerality, subtle, fruity and sweet tasting, lovely if a touch faded but well balanced, harmonious and elegant, long and fresh with a hint of pineapple with the acidity.
2023: A medium hot year with medium rainfall, a balanced growing season.
Current release
Very perfumed, lots of fruit and lots of floral notes, white flowers, bright, all fruit and flowers in the mouth as well, though well underpinned by mineral notes, very well knit, easy drinking but not simple, lemon/lime, lipstick.
Tasting the current releases from Col Vetoraz
Col vetoraz was the first Prosecco producer of dosage zero, there were producers of extra brut though with 5 or 6 grams of residual sugar. but they didn’t have the character of these wines, even though there was aging on the lees post secondary fermentation which lent roundness to the wine, but also inhibited the aromatic expression.
In 2012 they produced their first extra brut, but the goal from the get go, was to produce a wine that was structurally adapted to become zero dosage.
2023 Col Vetoraz Prosecco Extra Brut Cuvee 0
Dosage zero
All mineral and floral on the nose with bitter apple and russeted pear fruit. Clean, fine mousse, also mineral driven in the mouth, clean and bright, super dense on the palate, with decent length. This is a very reserved style, very clear on the palate, its a refreshing style, lean and racy, gentle gardenia florals pop on the finish. 88pts
2023 Col Vetoraz Prosecco Extra Brut Cuvee 5
From 5 vineyards, with 5 grams residual sugars. Trying to retain a very soft impression, to create a dry wine that is soft and easy to pair with food,
A much more nuanced nose here, quite floral and pollen laden but backed by fine pear and apple fruit that is the trademark of Prosecco. This is fabulous, very vertical in the mouth with great cut on the palate. Rich with apple and pear fruit leading to a saline and mineral laced back palate. A little lanolin on the nose, good length, very refreshing and Lazar focused. 93pts
2023 Col Vetoraz Prosecco Brut
8 grams residual sugar
More lipstick on the nose, talc, with a hint of herbaceousness. Bigger, creamy, the sugar adds more weight than sweetness, lots of russeted apple and herbaceousness on the finish, with definitely peachy fruit, is saved from a slightly saccharine midpalate by strong mineral notes that drive the finish which is quite light but shows a return of canned peach juiciness on the finale. 89pts
2023 Col Vetoraz Prosecco Extra Dry Cuvee 13
13 vineyards, 13 gram residual sugar
Fruity on the nose with hints of nectar joining the more typical fresh pear and apple fruit. Counterintuitively, there is more tension here than the Brut, even though the additional sugar lends this a subtle stickiness on the finish, though it is superbly balanced by minerality and acids. The flavor profile is riper and sweeter, but the texture is a bit racier than one might expect. 89pts
2023 Col Vetoraz Prosecco Extra Dry
16 grams residual sugar
50% of the production of the region of conigliano-valdobbiadene DOCG is in this style, this is what defines Prosecco.
Quite perfumed, with lots of white fruits, apples and pears backed up by lovely floral notes. Fairly light and certainly fruity in the mouth with more stone fruit creeping in before the minerality lends refreshing energy to the moderately long finish. This is too sweet for me but it’s very well balanced and shows solid complexity for the style. 87pts
2023 Col Vetoraz Prosecco Dry
24 grams residual sugar
Very vibrant white flower and white fruit perfumes grace the nose with a green undertone to the aromatics here suggesting freshness. Wow this is rich and supple, the fruit is bright and fresh, would never guess the rs is so high, it’s wonderfully balanced, though there is a a bit of stickiness to the finish here. So pretty on the midpalate, complex and deep with a lemon curd like note laid under the minerality on the backend. It’s more of a dessert wine, or perhaps a good pairing for foie gras, and with that in mind seems deserving of 92pts.
2023 Col Vetoraz Prosecco Cartizze Dry
The Cartizze historically were harvested when the leaves turned yellow, there is no disease pressure here so they could wait, the harvest was late in October early November so the fermentations would stick, which leads to the ‘classic’ style being “dry” with, in this case, 24 grams residual sugar.
Rather restrained and nuanced on the nose, this is more complex with a quartzier tone to the minerality and poised, sweet, green apple and pear fruit. Round and mouth filling, sweeter feeling than the Col Vetoraz Prosecco Dry. Broad shouldered, a big Prosecco, this grand cru offers more elegance, it is very long, and vibrant with a slight kumquat tone to it, there is something bitter/sweet to this, which offers lovely relief from the sugar, The mousse here is generally velvety. 92pts
Col Vetoraz works with 4 hectares of Cartizze, they have one Hectare, the other 3 are farmed by five producers. They vinify 2% of the whole volume of the DOCG.
And finally, a pet project, 13000 bottles year, of Pinot Noir, from Mazon, in the Alto-Adige, undoubtedly one of the top Italian Pinot Noir vineyards. The process begins in the March following the vintage when a selection is made that undergoes a secondary fermentation of 60 days, the wine isl then left in autoclave for 11 months, on the lees, and finally bottled 13 months after harvest,
Col Vetoraz Brut Rosa
4 grams residual sugar
Very fruity on the nose with light cherry notes and a hint of strawberry. A rich example, with lots of creamy character supporting flavors of unripe strawberry in the mouth. This dances nicely across the palate, then firms up pleasantly on the fairly long finish, nicely proportioned, rich with Pinot vinosity and incipient underbrush flavors framing the red fruits on the palate, cleansing finish shows a dusty minerality. 89pts
So that’s about all I have to say on this but i will leave you with a handful of takeaways:
Prosecco can age, and great Prosecco seems to improve for several years before veering off into tertiary territory which will appeal more to a certain audience.
Col Vetoraz has a portfolio of prosecco that is broad, and varied though consistently at a very high qualitative level.
Prosecco is a great match for Cavair. A great match.
Col Vetoraz is under appreciated in this country, and in general we will have to fight to get high quality products like this offering in our markets. Don’t take what they give you, ask for the best!