The standard of Italian sparkling wine is extremely high and, as every year now for twenty-one editions, this is confirmed at the Rome event dedicated to selecting the best Italian sparkling wines for Sparkle, the guide published by Cucina & Vini.
For 2023, no fewer than 89 bottles out of the more than 800 in the guide received the coveted 5 spheres award; leading the regions by number of sparkling wines honoured is Lombardy, followed by Trentino, both of which count historic names among Italy’s finest, such as Ca’ del Bosco and Ferrari.
For loyal fans of these two wineries, here are our selections of Ferrari sparkling wines and Ca’ del Bosco Franciacorta.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the award-winning bottles.
If you’re an enthusiast and want to go straight to the category, click here to see all our Italian sparkling wines (and more)!
Let’s get to know five bottles that are well worth tasting, perhaps over the Christmas holidays.
Gran Cuvée XXI Secolo d’Araprì
It is the most distinctive sparkling wine from the Apulian winery, produced only in outstanding vintages: Gran Cuvée XXI Secolo combines the lightness of a traditional brut with the particular flavour of the exceptional vintage it comes from.
Made from Bombino Bianco, Pinot Noir and Montepulciano grapes, each bottle rests for at least 60 months away from light and draughts in the winery’s underground cellars. A great sparkling wine that d’Araprì reserves for enthusiasts.
The colour is a bright yellow, enlivened by fruity notes of apricot and citrus that blend perfectly with hints of honey and tobacco. Elegant and creamy, Gran Cuvée d’Araprì shows great savouriness and liveliness: pair it with shellfish, salmon and caviar, but also with truffle dishes and mature cheeses.
The Cucina & Vini 5 spheres are neither the only nor the first award for this exceptional interpretation of Italian sparkling wine, which has earned several major accolades, a great credit to the winery. The quality and refinement of d’Araprì’s wines raise the San Severo area to one of the most interesting places for Italian sparkling wine.
Magnificentia Uberti
From vineyards in the municipality of Erbusco, using only grapes from Chardonnay plots, comes a superb interpretation of Franciacorta by Uberti: among the 2023 award winners, Magnificentia.
Elegant, persuasive and supple, it embodies Satèn in all its freshness, in its very fine perlage and its fine, delicate aromas. Magnificentia stands out for its particular refinement and its exceptionally pleasant flavour; it is one of Uberti’s finest labels and a great example of this winery’s skill and vision.
The first winegrowers of the family settled in Erbusco as far back as 1793, starting a tradition that has been handed down admirably from generation to generation.
To pair with fish dishes, especially raw fish, Franciacorta Magnificentia is also excellent for a truly exclusive aperitif.
Brut Riserva Letrari
Standing out among the Trento Doc wines is Brut Riserva Letrari, a vintage sparkling wine with a very fine perlage made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. An excellent wine from the Letrari family, tied to Trentino wine since 1647.
The current winery was founded in the 1970s, and since then every bottle bearing this name has expressed the Letrari creed and style. The wines are shaped above all by the typicity of the terroir and the special microclimate of the Vallagarina, as is our Brut Riserva, a superb Metodo Classico sparkling wine.
Supple and elegant, Brut Letrari also owes its character to its long time on the lees, 36 months. It is golden in colour with bright, lively highlights; on the nose it offers fragrant notes of bread crust, vanilla, apple and hazelnut that herald a fresh, complex and persistent palate.
Excellent for a special aperitif, Brut Riserva goes well with raw fish and meat, but also with more traditional dishes such as goat’s cheese starters.
Døm Dosaggio Zero Riserva Mirabella
Elegant and velvety, Døm Mirabella joins the award-winning Franciacortas. What sets it apart is a production approach based on a company philosophy of sustainability and low environmental impact, using energy from 100% renewable sources.
Døm Dosaggio Zero is a Franciacorta Docg with a fine, persistent perlage and a rich, broad nose marked by hints of peach and ripe melon, with notes of honey and vanilla. With a precious minerality and remarkable persistence, it is ideal both as an aperitif and throughout the meal, paired with fried fish, shellfish, risottos and raw fish.
Resting on the lees for at least 70 months, Døm is a Franciacorta of the very highest profile, to be saved for special occasions.
An exceptional label, like many other Mirabella wines, showing the growth and evolution of the winery, which owns around fifty hectares of vineyards planted with the traditional Franciacorta grapes: Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay.
Zero Riserva Pas Dosé Enrico Serafino
Zero Riserva Pas Dosé is made by Enrico Serafino, a patriarch of Italian wine and a founding winery of the “Consorzio dello Spumante Metodo Classico – Progetto Alta Langa”.
A pale straw-yellow sparkling wine, Zero Riserva Pas Dosé has a fine, persistent perlage and is broad and complex on the nose, with hints of linden blossom, honey, white fruit and citrus, mingled with subtle notes of bread crust. Complex and elegant on the palate, it reveals a very long, mineral finish.
With a special harmony between nose and palate, Enrico Serafino’s Zero Riserva goes well with fish and shellfish, and makes a refined aperitif too.
A full expression of its terroir, Zero Riserva Pas Dosé comes from grapes harvested by hand, with the bunches selected on a vibrating table.
The bunches are pressed in an inert atmosphere, with a free-run must yield of 45%. The must ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and is kept on its lees for 6 months with bâtonnage. The secondary fermentation is carried out using the Metodo Classico of fermentation in the bottle, with ageing on the lees for at least 72 months and late disgorgement. Any liqueur d’expédition is proudly avoided, making a zero-dosage Metodo Classico like the pas dosé wines.
More about Italian sparkling wines
Sparkling wine tops the list of Italy’s best-selling and most exported bottles worldwide. There are a great many quality wines, from both the largest producers and the smallest niche ones; we have looked at only a few, but our range has something for every taste.
Because Italian sparkling wines are not all the same; many details and characteristics determine the qualities and profile of a bottle: we discuss this in more depth in Spumante: Italian sparkling wine in all its many shades.
