Spumante vs Champagne

Italian spumante is a sparkling wine and if you are not a sommelier or a wine expert you can easily get mixed up with the more expensive French champagne. Spumante, to be clear , simply means ‘sparkling wine’ in Italian.

Italy makes very good and relatively international famous sparkling wines and Italy’s producers now have focused on emphasizing the variety instead of keeping on the “bubble battle” with France.

Champagne vs Italian spumante: a battle with an end

Until 40’s Italian growers simply called this product “champagne”. To day, they are selling their wines not as competitors to the well-known French wine, but as an Italian distinct brand far away from being an alternative. Just part of the great team of Italian high-end wines.

There are several major types of sparkling wines from Italy which include Prosecco, Lambrusco, Franciacorta and Asti Spumante.

As already said and not to underestimate, money is an important focus here. A good prosecco takes just a few months to move from the vine to wineglass. And rarely costs more than fifteen dollars.

More than a years ago, Italian Spumante sales exceeded champagne ones thanks to English and American consumers. Prosecco stands out, followed by Asti, and by Franciacorta. The Italian payback has been achieved also during 2016 “Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships” where the Italian Ferrari NV Brut (Magnum) won in the category World Champion Classic Blanc de Blancs 2016.

It is all about bubbles

Just as for Champagne or Spanish cava,  spumante as well is made by following very specific techniques. The highest quality technique to produce spumante is the Metodo Classico (classic technique). To date, some different bottles of spumante produced with this metodo stand up nicely against the most famous champagne. In layman’s words, Metodo Classico means that sparkling wine undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle.

The Spumante’s uprising began some years ago, when the efforts of the producers started to create the distinctive character of this typical sparkling enjoyable wine.

Spumante made with the Metodo Classico very much resemble the classical Champagne or Cava. Moreover, sparkling wine sector is growing (especially dry wines). People begin to be curious about something different than the world famous Champagne.

In conclusion, we cannot give you an advice about what to drink. Champagne is champagne, needless to say…but spumante is spumante! And is getting better every year! The best idea is: get yourself two great bottles. A classic bottle of champagne and another one of one of the best Italian spumante and then…cheers!