Few bottles catch the eye like Bottega’s selection of Prosecco. The sleek bottles with their striking designs are easy to spot in restaurants and bars. Now, the range has show-stopping new premium additions – Gold Cru, Gold Extra Brut, Gold Diamond, Black Stardust and Gold Stardust – with extended fermentation periods.
Bottega Gold Cru is the first in a new range of high quality wines that takes Prosecco to the next level. Veneto’s flagship sparkling wine is already a bubbly of choice for both food pairings and celebrations, and now Bottega is demonstrating how careful ageing can elevate Prosecco even further.
The new range is the result of a project that began more than 10 years ago. By extending the fermentation time, winemakers are producing Prosecco with increased complexity and even longer ageing potential.
The revelation of age
With four centuries of winemaking heritage behind them, the Bottega family founded their current company in 1977, and have been gaining fans ever since. Bottega won over critics at vertical tastings in London this year, as well as previous tastings in London and Toronto. Offering tastings of vintages from 2013 to 2022, the winery demonstrated to sommeliers and wine columnists alike just how much Prosecco can evolve with age.
The new range, called the Bottega Premium Vintage Collection, is truly a perfect example of Prosecco’s impressive ageing potential. Harvested from single-vineyard sites, grapes are grown on a complex patchwork of different soils in the prime quality hilly area of the Treviso province
Once picked, the grapes undergo an extended fermentation, ranging from four up to 12 months depending on the wine (well beyond the standard three months), inside horizontal autoclaves, allowing the wines to develop a greater depth of complex aromas and flavours. It’s in these sophisticated pressure chambers that a second fermentation takes place using the Martinotti method, which allows the wine to develop its distinctive bubbles.
Recognising excellence
Bottega’s decade-long project to develop its Premium Vintage Collection was designed to elevate Prosecco, and is a fitting tribute to the hardworking grape growers who produce the region’s high-quality grapes. Treviso’s hillsides are dotted with small farms tended by small producers, who care deeply about the quality of the grapes they grow and the wines they ultimately produce.
The region’s steep and challenging slopes require a community of producers who share the same passionate mindset and commitment to excellence. The result can certainly be tasted in Bottega’s new Gold Premium range, which allows the combination of expert winemaking and the skill and know-how of the region’s talented growers to shine.