We are used to buy bottles of Spumantes for very important occasions, birthdays, New Year's Eve, Christmas are examples. But not only that, it's wonderful to sip a fresh glass of Spumantes by letting yourself be carried by the waves of the sea to exotic and warm destinations. But what is the difference between Spumantes and Sparkling Wine? What makes them different? Spumantes and sparkling wine in fact, share a common path only in part, in the end of the story lies the difference. Let's start from the bases, what is a Spumante? A spumante is a wine enriched with carbon dioxide that produces sparkling wine when poured into the glass. Usually a spumante is white, but there can also be red and rosés.
How do you produce the carbon dioxide that is the origin of the bubbles?
The spumantes are in fact special wines because as a result of the winemaking process it is enriched with carbon dioxide and once uncorked, the carbon dioxide begins to release itself in the air, making the wine itself produce that perlage (bubble lattice) that makes it so pleasant to the palate.
Carbon dioxide, which makes such spumantes or sparkling wines is produced by the fermentation of sugars by certain microorganisms: yeasts (precisely of the type sacromiceti), but can also be added by man.
A bottle of spumante, inside, has a balance between the carbon dioxide molecules dissolved in the liquid and those outside, balanced by the cap, often equipped with a metal capsule that ensures that it remains in place. This condition remains unchanged over time until the opening of the bottle, everything changes at the time of the characteristic stand of the bottle. With the sudden drop in gas pressure between the cap and the liquid, this will result in oversaturated CO2 bubbles that will begin their escape to freedom forming the characteristic chain of spheres traveling to the surface of the liquid. Poured the spumante into the glass, a myriad of chains of small bubbles will begin to rise rapidly upwards. This succession of small spheres is called perlage and is the hallmark of spumante, always the subject of analysis and evaluation as the perlage is very important. The small spheres of CO2 have varying diameters and rise with harmonious motion at variable speed: initially faster, then slower. Why do bubbles slow down as they approach the surface of the spumante? The speed of the bubbles decreases as the energy that disperses by friction decreases. The diameter of the bubbles is a source of evaluation of the quality of a spumante. A very fine bubble will produce the typical thick and persistent ascent column. From the bottom of the glass and from the walls will be created several columns of bubbles that will burst on the surface of the wine, releasing aromas and molecules. A slight foam will form on the surface even after the first moment it was poured into the glass.
The bubbles produced in Italy are, for a good percentage, wines produced with the classic method, but the method used for Prosecco differs from these. The difference of prosecco lies precisely in the method of winemaking used: It is the Martinotti/Charmat Method, which allows you to obtain a wine that contains carbon dioxide produced inside, not added from the outside. The fermentation that produces carbon dioxide takes place in autoclaves, which allows a greater uniformity of the product, but also a much lesser processing. The freshness of prosecco, the drinkability, lightness and joy it conveys are its hallmarks all over the world.
The Franciacorta wine, produced by many Italian wineries of Lombardy is a spumante classic method. The Classical Method is also known as méthode champenoise with reference to the region French where Champagne is produced. The fermentation takes place directly in the bottle, adding sugar and yeast; then it is plugged. This technique of producing spumante is often referred to as the Traditional Method as its use is very ancient. At the end of the whole process that counts several stages the pressure inside the bottle can vary from 3 to 6.5 bars.
At this point it is clear that there are bubbles and bubbles... So, we wonder what the difference is between Spumante and Sparkling Wine. The difference is only in the pressure. Simple answer: The pressure of sparkling wines is less than 2.5 bars. ! The spumante, inside the bottle, has a greater pressure that makes it uncork you feel a powerful bang. The difference that is often highlighted by looking at the bubbles of a spumante and a simple sparkling wine, or their finesse or density, is not always a discriminating one. We have asked many sommelier experts for clarification on this and the only sure true statement is that: The pressure of spumantes must be more than 2.5 bars.
Quality spumantes can be produced using different methods, but the Martinotti Charmat Method or the Classic Method are the most popular. Learn more about the difference between Classic Method and Martinotti Charmat Method: