Sboccatura Sunday

"Reality is an illusion that occurs due to a lack of wine".  Anonymous

It was May 31, and as is traditional in Le Marche, it was time for Cantine Aperte.  Cantina Aperte is an annual event held the last weekend in May to promote the wineries in the region.  A majority of wineries participate opening their doors for wine tasting, tours, food and entertainment.   

As we headed off to the Colonnara winery on that Sunday morning, I was reminded of the first year that we almost attended this event back in 2009.  It was during our three month stay in Italy before my husband, Jim, and I moved here permanently.  Our son and his  wife were visiting, and we had planned to take the four hour drive to Venice from Le Marche.  On our way to the autostrada, we stopped by the Colognola cantina to introduce our son to our friends at the winery and to taste their latest offerings.  If Lord Voldemort wanted to destroy this event, he could not have found a better way.  The day was a disaster.  Rain came down in buckets - well, almost literally.  The tented area set aside for the event was a mud pit, and everyone was running around like crazy trying to solve the problem.  A truck load of gravel was being put down, but it just could not keep up with the rain which washed it away almost as quickly as it hit the ground.  Needless to say, it was a very short visit for us.  And the thought of driving to Venice in the downpour was not too enticing either, but we kept to the plan and off we went.  Each year as Cantine Aperte approaches, I think about this day and wonder if this year the weather will be fair or foul. 

As Jim guided the Alfa over the windy roads and up the hill to Cupramontana and the Colonnara winery, I breathed a sigh of relief.  It was the perfect day - sunny, warm, but not too warm, with cotton candy clouds dotting the sky and a soft breeze that whispered, "summer is coming".   Of all the possible wineries open for visiting, we chose Colonnara because, today, they were featuring the sboccatura.  In Italian, sboccatura is the word used to describe the process of disgorging the yeast (lees) from a sparkling wine made in the classic champagne method( methodo classico in Italian).  As we were to learn, cleaning the yeast sediment from the wine without losing bubbles is more art than science.  It is a deceptively simple yet technical process that now can be done mechanically.  But today, Colonnara would be demonstrating the traditional process, done by hand, one bottle at a time.

The hill town of Cupramontana

Arriving at the winery around 11:00 am, we bought our entrance tickets (5 euro for the commemorative glass and four tastes of wine) and joined the party.  Folks were already lined up, glass in hand,  seeking tastes of the proffered wines. 

It was early, but folks were already lined up for tastes of the various Colonnara wines

Cuvee Tradition, a sparkling wine made in the charmat method but with a lengthy aging process

We, of course, joined them at the bar where I looked to find a new Colonnara wine for tasting.  And there I found it, the Cuvee Tradition.  This is the first sparkling wine produced by Colonnara back in 1968, and it has been produced each year since.  A methodo martinotti (charmat), it is made from a selection of quality Verdicchio grapes and aged for a longer period of time than the typical brut or extra dry made by the charmat process.  The extra aging gives it a more refined nose and palate.  In the glass the Cuvee Tradition is straw yellow with a fine perlage.  It exudes scents of mimosa and stone fruits along with a hint of almond.  This brut is soft in the mouth with a fresh taste that finishes with the flavor of toasted almonds.  I was impressed by its more mature and distinctive palate.  This is definitely a wine for more than aperitif, and I know I will be enjoying it often. 

While we sipped the Cuvee, we walked around to see what was on offer at other tables set up outside of the cantina.  There were fresh baked torte, crostata and biscotti along with a number of other locally produced food items from the Marche region.  Signs for the luncheon peaked my interest, and we perused the menu.  Not surprisingly the luncheon was fish, a perfect pairing with wines made from the Verdicchio grape, and we decided to stay for lunch after observing the sboccatura.

This year lunch was catered by a new restaurant in Ancona. The fish was excellent.

Luigi Ghislieri, one of my favorite methodo classico wines.

As we waited for our friend, Massimiliano,  the President of Colonnara, who was still down in the cellar with a tour group, I decided to have my second taste of the day, the Luigi Ghislieri.  Okay, this wine was not new to me, as a matter of fact it rates highly among my favorite sparkling wines.  Named for a former Cooperative Chairman who in the 1970s restored the sparkling wine tradition in Cupramontana, Luigi Ghislieri is one of Colonnara's  top sparkling wines.  It is a methodo classico, bottle aged for a minimum of 30 months.  In the glass, the color is a warm straw yellow with a fine and dignified perlage.  The nose exudes scents of honey and almond.  And the taste is elegant and soft with a well balanced acidity.  This is a wine to be sipped slowly and savored, a more complex wine, a wine for moments of contemplation. 

And just as I was beginning to contemplate the bottom of my now empty glass, Massimiliano appeared and escorted Jim and I I down into the wine cave to observe the sboccatura.  While we rode down on the super sized elevator, he apprised us that the bottles being disgorged today were Luigi Ghislieri.  Of course, that made this event all the more enticing for me because, after the disgorgement, tastes of the "zero dosage" wine (without the liqueur d'exposition) would be available. 

Down in the cellar, it was cool, dark, and quiet, but for me a sense of expectation filled the air along with the perfume of previously opened bottles of wine.  At this point in time, the nearly fully matured bottles of Luigi Ghislieri had been resting on wooden racks for more than 2 years.

Bottles of Luigi Ghislieri ready to be disgorged.

Here they were turned a  quarter turn every day and tilted from a horizontal position to upside down to collect the yeast sediment in the neck of the bottle.  These mature bottles had been taken from the riddling racks and were now placed, neck down in a machine to freeze just the portion of the neck containing the settled yeast. 

This is where the lees are frozen prior to disgorgement

We watched as the neck of one of these bottles was held over an open flame to ease passage of the yeast plug from the bottle. 

Then the bottle cap style cap was removed, and the pressure expelled the frozen yeast plug from the bottle along with a small amount of the spumante.

Removing the cap to expel the yeast.

The space in the bottle created by the expulsion of the yeast was then filled with the liqueur d'expedition (a secret mixture that adds sweetness and contributes to the distinctive flavor of each winemaker's methodo classico). 

The jar on the right of the screen contains the liqueur d'expedition. It's contents are a trade secret.

Now, the bottle was corked and the metal cage applied.  This bottle will sit again for several months before being ready to consume.

Putting the cork and the wire cage on the bottle.

While I watched the disgorgement process, I was struck by how much it is about experience and technique.  While superficially simple, there is definitely an art to doing it right.  My head began to fill with questions, as I watched the yeast plug expel from a second bottle and I thought about all of the possible things that could go wrong if you were inexperienced such as not freezing the plug for the right amount of time, not holding the bottle in the flame long enough or too long, not holding the bottle at the proper angle as you release the cap to expel the yeast and just the right amount of spumante.  I noted that releasing the right amount of spumante involved a little stylized twisting of the bottle to rid the wine of some  extra foam and make room for the liqueur d'expedition.  The wrist rotation looked like a severe carpal tunnel hazard, and I knew that I would not be sitting here at the keyboard and typing if I had to do this for just one hour. 

The process was both interesting and educational to observe, but the best part was yet to come - tasting the wine before the liqueur d'expedition was added.  As the wine entered the glass, I noted a citrus aroma.  It had a lighter color than the finished Luigi Ghislieri and a fine perlage.  I do not know what I was expecting, but the most surprising thing for me was how dry this wine was.    It had an appealing tartness on the palate similar to a granny smith apple.  While I could see the possibilities for this as a dosage zero (without the liqueur d'expedition), this really made me appreciate what the addition of the liqueur d'expedition does to enhance the depth and flavor of the sparkling wine and produce its distinctive palate.  I will be looking forward to tasting the finalized product in a few months. 

Tasting the Luigi Ghislieri before the liqueur d'expedition is added and discussing it with Massimiliano

As we left the wine cave, lunch was calling me.  Of course, we had some fritto misto (deep fried calamari, shrimp, and julienne vegetables)  and, what else, a bottle of Luigi Ghislieri.  Now that is what I call a perfect Sunday. 

Thank you Massimiliano and Colonnara for continuing my education about the sparkling wine making process! 

For more information about the Colonnara winery visit their website at  www.colonnara.it