2022, the year of bubbles. And WineNews followers suggest the ones to toast with

Whether they are the last cheers to 2022 closing, or the first to 2023 starting, amid expectations, dreams, worries and hopes, toasts, between the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one, “call” the great bubbles of Italy and the world. And if the allure of Champagne’s prestige is not questioned, Italy is also a protagonist with its bubblies that have conquered the world, between Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene Docg and Prosecco Doc, between Asti and Alta Langa, between Franciacorta and Trentodoc, between Oltrepò Pavese and the increasingly numerous and qualitatively valid sparkling expressions of native grape varieties, from North to South. In any case, sparkling wines are the wines of the moment: if Champagne, at the end of 2022, will have broken the record of 5.7 billion in production turnover touched in 2021, according to forecasts by the Union des Maisons de Champagne, exports of Italian sparkling wines should exceed 2 billion euros in value for the first time, a quarter of the Italian total (Coldiretti projections based on Istat data).
Then again, between increasing quality, lightness, simplicity of pairing and more, these are wines in line with “the spirit of the times” we are living in, because, as reminded, at WineNews, by anthropologist Marino Niola, “behind the success of sparkling wines is the desire to find reasons to toast to even at a time of great uncertainty and concern like this”. And if you are still wondering what to uncork, wishing you to do it with whom you want and with what you like best, the recommendations, as already happened for the Christmas toast, we have entrusted them to the nearly 50,000 followers of our Instagram profile @WineNewsIt, selecting, in a mathematical way, those with the most “likes” among the many reviewed in our tasting newsletters, “I Vini di WineNews”, weekly, and “I Quaderni di WineNews”, monthly with monographs on the most important territories of Italian wine. With a 12-label section, ideally one dedicated to each month of the year.
So it starts with the most popular, which is the 2016 Alta Langa Pas Dosé Blanc de Blancs by Giuseppe Contratto, one of the historical names of the area, and then goes to Champagne, with top brands: from Louis Roederer’s Brut Cristal 2014 to Encry’s Brut Blanc de Blancs Grande Couvée (an Italian-owned maison, an almost unique case, led by Enrico Baldin and Nadia Nicoli), from Ayala’s Brut Majeur Extra Age to Diebolt-Vallois’s Brut Blanc de Blancs Prestige, to Pol Roger’s Brut Rosè Vintage 2015. Then back to Italy, still in Alta Langa, with Marcalberto’s Extra Brut Millesimo2mila17, to move on to Trentodoc, with Pisoni’s 2018 Pinot Bianco Extra Brut. A glass of Champagne again, with Roger Coulon’s Brut Nature Premier Cru Esprit de Vrigny, before a glass that comes from the most prized Prosecco Docg territories, such as the Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di Col San Martino 70th Anniversary 2017 from the Bortolomiol label. Then again Trentodoc with two top brands in the territory, where in the sign of quality coexist great cooperatives, such as Mezzacorona, which through the Rotari winery produces, among others, the Trentodoc Brut Rosé Alperegis 2015, and small artisans of great depth, such as Maso Martis, on the list with the Trentodoc Brut Rosé de Noir Monsieur Martis 2017. Cheers, and happy new year!