Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1025306
september 2018 / the tasting panel / 59 F or a wine so synonymous with easy, breezy pleasure, Prosecco is the force behind a rather serious business. Virtually unknown to main- stream American consumers a decade ago, the Italian bubbly commanded 19 percent of the domestic sparkling-wine market in 2017, with sales rising more than 20 percent last year, according to Nielsen data. Ruffino has emerged as a key player in Prosecco, with domestic sales of its products growing 28.6 percent last year to outpace category growth by nearly 19 percent, per the IRI Databank. Perhaps that's to be expected from such a venerable estate: Founded in the Tuscan town of Pontassieve in 1877, Ruffino has gone on to become one of Chianti's most formidable producers. And yet, Ruffino's success with respect to Prosecco is due precisely to its flair for pleasure as well as its business acumen. According to Chief Winemaker Gabriele Tacconi, the company's popularity "was genuinely associated with la dolce vita"—the sweet life—beginning in the 1950s and '60s: more than 50 years before Ruffino released its Prosecco in 2010. (The star of Italian director Federico Fellini's eponymous film, Marcello Mastroianni, was even known to visit the winery.) "La dolce vita is an attitude, a lifestyle that characterizes the people of Italy—a way of being the rest of the world would like to emulate," Tacconi says. "We love dressing well, eating well, and spending time with the people we care about." Tacconi says that as Ruffino "saw sparkling wine growing in popularity around the world and Prosecco in particular really taking off" during the early years of the new millennium, the company saw adding the category to its portfolio as an opportune way to celebrate its long-held, thoroughly Italian values. "We'd always felt that Prosecco embodied 'la vita Ruffino'— our passion for enjoying good food and wine with family and friends," Tacconi explains. "So it was a natural next step for Ruffino to produce Prosecco and have it be a part of our wine family." Ruffino Prosecco expresses that zest for life simply yet elegantly, according to the winemaker, who waxes poetic when asked what he loves most about the wine. "It has the aromas of the local fruit markets along our country roads," he says of the hints of pears, apples, and white peaches that meld with the aromatics of "fresh spring blooms." Sourcing Glera grapes from a DOC as vast as Prosecco for this single-varietal release means careful blending before secondary fermentation by the char- mat/tank method is key; Tacconi says it's also important "to taste every single blend before bottling" in order to strike the balance he seeks between bold fruit and delicate floral notes. The result is "one of the best food- pairing wines" around, boasts Tacconi, who favors it with raw or cooked seafood, pizza bianca, or quiche with cheese, ham, and zucchini. But, he adds, "the absolute best pairing for Prosecco is Parmesan cut into small pieces to pop into your mouth." Of course, as the millions of Americans who've jumped on the Prosecco bandwagon are well aware, mealtime isn't the only moment tailormade for breaking out the bubbly. Asked when he recommends drinking Ruffino Prosecco, Tacconi says "that's a very simple question to answer: on any and every occasion!" Ruffino Chief Winemaker Gabriele Tacconi characterizes the Prosecco as embodying "la vita Ruffino: our passion for enjoying good food and wine with family and friends."