As most of us realize, “rosé” is not a single specific color of wine. The same is true for bubbly wines: Bubbles come in a range of intensities depending on the method used to form the bubbles and trap them in a wine. And both rosé and bubbly wines vary according to which grapes they were made from, and where they were grown.
All told, that’s a whole lot of variables. My small tasting of three Italian rosé bubblies combined all of them. Three grape varieties from three Italian regions, produced by three different methods that resulted in three different manifestations of their bubbles. Not to mention three different shades of pink.
The most classic of the wines was the 2020 Enrico Serafino “Oudeis” Alta Langa DOCG ($38) — classic in that it is made by the metodo classico, once upon a time referred to as the Champagne method, and that its grape variety, Pinot Noir, is a classic grape variety in Champagne, France. This wine has a fairly pale, onion skin hue, with all the markers of an elite classic-method sparkling wine such as tiny, persistent bubbles to the eye and a delicate but lively mousse in the mouth. It shows aromas and flavors of yeast and brioche because of its three years’ aging in the bottle with the lees of its second fermentation. Other aromas include red fruits, nuts and burnt sugar (comfortingly suggestive of baking in the holiday kitchen)—all nuanced, understated, and complex in the mouth. The wine is dry at seven grams per liter of residual sugar. A superior bubbly to linger over.
At the other end of the spectrum is Garofoli Pét Kon Rosato Frizzante ($18), a pétillant naturel or in common parlance a “pét nat.” That’s a type of bubbly that finishes its fermentation in its bottle, where the CO2 being generated by the ongoing fermentation is trapped as bubbles. Pét nat is a somewhat off-beat type of bubbly that’s embraced by the natural wine movement. The visible sediment in the bottle is an effect of the wine’s premature bottling without filtration; a crown cap on the bottle protects against inadvertent opening. In this case the grape is Montepulciano, the prized red grape of the Marche region on Italy’s Adriatic coast. Fermentation involved whole clusters of Montepulciano grapes and partial carbonic, for maximum fruitiness.
I’m a big fan of Garofoli, while I am not generally a fan of pét nat, and so I had mixed expectations for this wine. In fact, I haven’t tasted a pét nat as solid and delightful as this. It tastes dryish with 5.8 grams/liter of residual sugar. Aromas and flavors include raspberries and strawberries with a slight note of savory mineral. Its bubbly effect is gentle — the wine is labelled frizzante, meaning lightly bubbly — but the bubbly taste persists even after the bottle has been opened for a while if kept cold. At only 8 percent alcohol this wine is oh so easy to drink. For my holidays, I’d serve it very cold at brunch and I’d expect it to be a big hit.
In the middle range of bubbly styles is Cleto Chiarli Rosé di Noir Brut Vino Spumante ($19). It hails from Emilia Romagna, a north-central region of Italy that’s home to the Lambrusco grape. Lambrusco Grasparossa makes up 85 percent of this wine along with 15 percent Pinot Noir, another Emilia Romagna specialty. The juice ferments in pressurized tanks that trap the carbon dioxide that’s generated during the wine’s single fermentation.
In color, this is the deepest of the three wines, a beautiful, frank pink. To my palate it is also the fruitiest of the three. Although the wine contains 12 grams/liter of residual sugar, and its taste does have some sweetness, the wine carbonation is so enthusiastic in your mouth that it offsets and balances the sweetness impression. Bright fruit flavor runs all through the wine, particularly red cherry and strawberry, and leads to a dry and minerally finish. This is a sparkling wine for enjoyment rather than for evaluation. Whenever you might serve it at the holidays, know that the more flavorful the food, the happier the combination will be.