With exquisite freshness and exceptional quality, Trentodoc sparkling wines are forging ahead with zero dosage cuvées. Ideal wines for those who want to avoid sugar but still enjoy fine fizz.
“Zero is More” was the theme of a tasting given by Trentodoc – the producers of traditional method sparkling wine around the northern Italian town of Trento. The grapes for Trentodoc wines are grown in high-altitude vineyards – so they benefit equally from exhilarating Alpine briskness and Italian sunshine.
This contrast is alive in the wines and has made them a compelling prospect ever since Giulio Ferrari of Ferrari Trento pioneered sparkling wine production in 1902. Today, 61 producers cultivate grapes for sparkling wines across 1,154ha/2,850 acres of Alpine vineyards.
For a while now, long ageing has been a common theme in the region – with the time spent on lees lending texture and creaminess to the wines. The producers feel that they thus do not have to augment their wines with high dosage levels, i.e. the amount of sugar solution added after disgorgement to denote whether a wine is extra brut, brut or demi-sec. Even dosaged wines rarely exceed 6g/l – leaving most of them in the extra brut bracket.
Experience with low dosage has also made the winemakers experiment with no dosage at all – and they feel that their brilliant southern Alps' sunshine predestines their wines for the zero dosage style. Topography also helps: there are many aspects and altitudes to choose from in these mountainous vineyards.
Fabriziop Marinconz of Cavit whose prestige cuvée is called Altemasi, says: “We started with pas dosé (zero dosage) in 2005 after several years of trying to select different vineyards for our Riserva wine. Some of them had very good structure and acidity. When tasting the wine after disgorgement without any dosage, we found the wines were already so balanced without dosage.” By Riserva Marinconz means the category of Trentodoc that has to age for a minimum of 36 months in bottle before disgorgement. These legally stipulated ageing periods, however, are generally exceeded. The Altemasi wine that was tasted had spent 60 months – a full five years – on lees.
Marcello Lunelli, winemaker and co-owner of Ferrari Trento, makes the point that creating a zero dosage wine is about more than just omitting the final addition of sugar after disgorgement: “When we approached the non-dosé, we did not want to present 'a Ferrari without sugar' to the market,” he says. They thus blend vintages with different characters and across winemaking styles to crete their zero dosage wine. Some of the base wines vinified in stainless steel, some in wood, some in glass and some even undergo a slight second fermentation in magnum to create extra creaminess.
“When we created the cuvée we made this very complicated mix and the wine stayed on the lees for 72 months. The acidity is an explosion of wonder but at the same time elegant and well-balanced and you can drink several glasses without tiring. This is the idea of Trentodoc,” he says. He also suggests that zero dosage should not be served too cold.
Cavit’s Fabrizio Marinconz says: “I think in a pas dosé you show the quality of your sparkling wine. I would say that without adding any sugar, we show the purity of Trentodoc.” He also notes increasing demand for zero dosage wines. Sparkling wines without dosage have nothing to hide behind at all – they are also slightly lower in calories than sparkling wines with dosage and are thus perfect for those who want fine fizz without imbibing any sugar. The wines of this tasting showed that foregoing a few grams of sweetness is not a loss of complexity or pleasure – the opposite in fact.
