Sparkling personality

Family-owned Prosecco producer Bisol is making waves with its single-vineyard sparklers. By Patrick Schmitt

IT’S BEEN well documented that Italian sparkling wine lacks the glamour and gravitas of Champagne, but not that the steep hills of DOC-designated Prosecco produce some surprisingly elegant spumanti.

Covering 4,100 ha – and divided among 3,500 growers – the region churns out some 39m bottles each year, which, to use the proverbial, is a drop in the ocean compared to Champagne’s 260m.

Among these is a producer some have called the Krug of Prosecco.  A brand known for the quality, as well as complexity, of its wines.  And its name? Bisol.  This family-owned company makes some 500,000 bottles of Prosecco each year from 50 hectares in 16 different areas of the DOC.

It also has the biggest landholding on the Cartizze Hill, the top terroir for the Prosecco grape (Prosecco is both the name of the DOC and the grape) and home to the most expensive vineyards in Italy, which cost up to US$1m per hectare.

Here, at 500 metres above sea level, maximum sun exposure on Cartizze’s steep slopes ensures perfect grape maturation, while a high daily temperature range encourages an aromatic and fruity nature to the wines.

However, this is far from the only style of Prosecco Bisol produces because its approach is to create a series of single vineyard wines called "Crus".  For instance, there’s the Salis, Molera (a still wine) and Crede, each named according to the nature of the soils on which the grapes are grown – Salis being sandstone, Molera morainic outcrops, and Crede clay.

Then, as well as the already-mentioned Cartizze, there’s Fol and Garnéi, named after the particular area where the vines are situated – places famed for their terrain.  And five years ago Bisol introduced a new brand called Jeio.

This is a DOC Prosecco but made with a selection of grapes from all the producer’s vineyards.  The result is a fine spumante but at a competitive price and also a product that’s perfect for sparkling cocktails. Venice’s Danieli hotel, for example, still insists on Bisol’s Crede for its Bellinis.

Over here, the Jeio is popular at bars like London’s Barolo, where it’s pushed as an aperitif, as well as in certain cocktails.  "You are meant to mix Prosecco in a Bellini," says Barolo’s general manger, Charlie Sutherlise.

"But, if you ask most London barmen what they use, you’ll find it’s Champagne.  A Bellini is not designed to include Champagne, it is meant to be a light and fruity cocktail; the difference is massive."

Beyond the Bellini however, and using Bisol’s Crus, in particular Cartizze, Sutherlise notes the popularity of the drink on its own. "People like the drinkability of Prosecco, and generally customers order a second bottle."

However, Bisol hopes to build its brand as an accompaniment to food, especially Asian-influenced dishes.  Hence, back in May, Gianluca Bisol headed to London to host a lunch at Zuma, in Knightsbridge.

Here, the Cartizze in particular, with its slightly higher level of residual sugar, but good acidity, made an excellent match with the Japanese restaurant’s soft-shell crab with chilli mayonnaise; while the Crede, drier and lighter in body than the Cartizze but with high acidity, cut cleanly through the crispy fried squid and prawn tempura offerings.

Aside from Asian food, however, it is worth noting Bisol’s Proseccos work well with brunch, and the Crede is listed at Clarke’s in Notting Hill, where it is suggested as an accompaniment to the restaurant’s Saturday breakfast dishes, presumably because the sparkling wine can cope with mouth-coating egg while not being too acidic for such early morning consumption.

Matt Wilkins, sommelier for the Capital Group, suggests a further food match for the wine style.  "Prosecco works well with something like a blue cheese tarte for instance, because the residual sugar stands up to the cheese while the drink’s structure breaks down the pastry."

So it seems Prosecco, and in particular Bisol’s carefully crafted versions, have the potential to match a variety of foods, as well as occasions.

As Giovanni Molli, sommelier at Italian restaurant Teca in London says, "I’ve tasted lots of Prosecco and Bisol is really high quality; the bubbles, everything, are really elegant, and the bottle is nice to look at."

And if actions speak louder than words it’s worth noting that Molli opens a magnum of Bisol’s Credo every evening to treat customers on arrival at the restaurant. If only more would follow his example.