The best Italian sparkling wines (that aren’t prosecco)

The Italians have been blessed with great success in the wine world; many of their regions and grape varieties are world-renowned and a “must try” on a restaurant wine list. Take the global rise of prosecco as an example, the most conspicuous Italian vinous success in the last thirty years.

No other country has more sparkling wine-producing areas than Italy. Fizz can legally be made in more than 100 of their DOC’s (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) — the legal areas for producing wine.

The Italian sparkling wine offering, however, extends to much more enjoyable wine than the super-popular but often one-dimensional “glass of giggles” that is Prosecco.

There are two sparkling wine varieties I would suggest instead, the first one being Franciacorta. The region of Franciacorta is an ancient vine-growing area of Lombardy that dates to Roman times; the name “Franzacurta” first appeared in the Bresica city ledgers in 1277.

It was not until the creation of the Franciacorta DOCG in 1995 — the highest level of acknowledged quality in Italy — that wine was produced that could be identified as a classic Brut style — in truth, the majority of the other hundred or so areas producing fizz were making average quality liquid.

Franciacorta achieved its high quality in part by making their wine in the “metodo classico” way — wine produced in the image of champagne by the secondary fermentation method, a more costly and labour-intensive method than the cheaper and quicker “tank” (or Charmat) method used by the Prosecco producers.

Quality and complexity are evident in the wine, and in my opinion, Franciacorta is a better glass than many of the champagnes available on our high street today.

The second Italian fizz I would recommend you try — or re-try if you are of a certain vintage — is Moscato d’Asti. Moscato d’Asti is a fizz that hails from the northwest region of Piedmont, primarily from the province of Asti, although it can be produced in the smaller provinces of Cuneo and Alessandria. Like Franciacorta, the first record of the wine dates back to the 13th century and what we know as “modern” production started in the 1870s.

In some quarters, the wine suffers from an image hangover from the 1970s, but today’s wines deliver a super modern glass of off-dry dinner fizz. Made from the Muscat grape, the wine is light-bodied with really inviting floral, fragrant tones and a sweeter finish due to the naturally higher sugars found in this grape variety.

Low levels of alcohol and a deliciously cleansing acidity make this both an aperitif and digestif drink ideal to cleanse and stimulate the palate.

Here are some wines to try:

Araldica Moscato d’Asti 2020 from Virgin Wines – £9.99

Michele Chiarlo Moscato d’Asti Nivole 2020 from Vinissimus – £13.50

Ferghettina Franciacorta Brut DOCG from Masters of Malt – £21.95