The Ca’ Di Rajo Prosecco Brut is a Sparkling wine produced from the Glera grape near the town of Treviso (DOC), along the Piave River in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. The winery is located on the site of an ancient convent ( founded 1507) and the property was converted to vineyards in 1960. This Prosecco Brut is Ca’ Di Rajo’s non-vintage value priced Bubbly and can be found on the internet for around $11. The alcohol content is 11%.
The color is a pale platinum gold with a flurry of teeny-tiny bubbles. The nose is pretty, almost perfume-like, a swirling mix of ripe apples and pears, tart lemon and lime, spring flowers and a hint of bakery bread. This is a medium bodied, dry Bubbly with solid fruit flavors and balanced, maybe slightly subdued acidity. The Ca’ Di Rajo tastes of lemon/lime, green apple, pear, a slight brush of minerality and a light hit of tart grapefruit. The finish is bold and lengthy.
The Ca’ Di Rajo Prosecco Brut is a particularly tasty Bubbly, it is one of those wines that has you constantly reaching for your glass to take another sip. Often inexpensive Prosecco lean a little too heavily on their tart, acidic sides, good for cleansing the palate when paired with food, but not ideal sipping. The Ca’ Di Rajo Brut has the body and acidity to do well with a meal (fish tacos, shrimp cajun-style or pasta with a light white sauce), but it shines as drinking wine. Elegant, versatile, delicious and inexpensive, what more can you ask for?
Bubbly 101
There are 2 main production methods to make Sparkling wine, the Traditional method and the Charmat method. The Sparkling wines from Champagne are made in the Traditional method. Here the wine is fermented twice. The first fermentation is basically the same method with which all wines are fermented, the major difference is the grapes used are not as ripe and the fermented wine is very sour, since sugar added with the second fermentation will further sweeten the wine. The second fermentation occurs when the wine from the 1st fermentation is bottled and a measured amount of yeast and sugar are introduced to each and every bottle. The yeast converts the sugar to alcohol and the process produces gases which are captured in the bottle causing bubbles to occur. Many counties produce Traditional method Bubbly using a variety of grapes, with Champagne Bubbly being the best known and commanding the highest prices.
The other production technique is the Charmat method, this is the method used for Prosecco. Again the wine is fermented a first time in a method similar to the Traditional method, but this process differs dramatically with the 2nd fermentation. Here instead of the second fermentation happening in each bottle, the fermented wine is placed in large stain-less steel pressurized tanks. Again yeast and sugar are added to the vats and the pressurized vats help speed up the process of forming the bubbles. With wines such as Prosecco, a longer the second fermentation usually means a better Bubbly. Longer 2nd fermentation times produce smaller, tighter bubbles with quick 2nd fermentations producing large bubbles (these are the mass produced Sparkling wines). Since with the Charmat method the difference between Sparkling wines produced quickly and Bubbly produced with quality production times are only a few dollars, seek out the Charmat wines that do not cut corners (and have teeny-tiny bubbles). More Prosecco-style (Charmat) Bubbly are sold in terms of gallons than Champagne Bubbly, but since the price of Champagne is much higher, Champaign still leads in the gross revenue category.
