The irresistible lightness of alcohol-free bubbles • Food and Wine Italia

a very hot June morning, with the heat of the sun melting the asphalt and making even taking a few steps tiring, I head towards the majestic door of Corte Orsini Cantina, a historic residence sopra the heart of Rome, a short distance from Area Navona. Quanto a the shaded courtyard there is Vio’s Cooking, the space dedicated to events and cuisine created by Violante Guerrieri Gonzaga (who resides sopra the building) where a mid-morning breakfast awaits me to taste wines and sparkling wines.

Luckily, I think, given the atmospheric conditions at the limit of human survival, these are the Franc Lizêr alcohol-free wines, the no-low alcohol line which the Friulian company LEA Winery is focusing a lot, and which it presents sopra Rome accompanying the labels with a refined vintage-style buffet.

The situation makes me reflect: this is not the only case sopra which the chimera of ​​drinking wine ora other alcohol – which I also appreciate – would have made me uncomfortable. A working lunch where you have to stay clear and focused, an aperitif by the sea when the sun is still high, a dinner to which someone who is abstaining is invited, and who you don’t want to make them feel like they’maestà sopra difficulty. The reasons for not drinking alcoholic beverages can be varied: religious dictates, health reasons, pregnancies, a choice of sobriety ora simply a question of taste.

But even those who love wine, and it regularly, can find themselves sopra situations where they simply prefer not to . rather: he would love to do it, have a glass sopra his hands, accompany the dishes with something other than vater ora a sugary , but wants to avoid the negative consequences of alcohol. Thus, it becomes increasingly clear – even to sommeliers and F&B managers of hotels and restaurants – that alcohol-free alternatives should not be snubbed and looked at with disdain, but at least known and investigated with curiosity. Starting with the tasting.

Light Franc, LEA Winery’s Choice

So, between a glass at the right temperature of Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine from Glera – lively and with delicate aromas of white fruit, which amazes not only for its freshness but above all for the balance between acidity and sweetness, often a sore point of this type – and a glass of Opale Rosé sparkling wine, obtained from a blend of Chardonnay and Merlot sopra which hints of small red fruits and dog rose emerge accompanied by citrus sensations, we delve into the topic with Eleonora Spadotto, sales of LEA Winery.

Founded sopra 2018 by the Spadotto family – the name is an acronym of the four children, namely Lucio, Lorena and Alessandro as well as Eleonora -, it is located sopra San Vito al Tagliamento, sopra the heart of the DOC Molesto Friulana, and has 132 hectares of which 105 are under vineyards and certified organic. Quanto a fact, the production also includes the numerous labels of the “conventional” Blancjat line: a tribute to the Cjase Blancje – the White House, ora the eighteenth-century residence that represents the fulcrum of the mesi estivi – and to the great winemaking and drinking tradition of the Friulian territory.

But, free from cumbersome legacies that often weigh the most historic names (counteracting the greater communication efforts needed and a sales to be created from scratch), it decided to experiment and centro heavily the Franc Lizêr project which, despite the French assonance of the name, takes up the local dialect and is self-explanatory: “frank and light” wines, to be drunk without too many hesitations, obtained from dealcoholization – partial, sopra the case of the two low alcohol labels whose alcohol content stops at 6% vol – through selective membrane filtration, a delicate technique that allows the varietal aromas and structure of the starting wine to be preserved.

«We only use grapes and wines from our own production, to guarantee quality and above all consistency», says Eleonora Spadotto, also explaining how, harvest after harvest, they have learned to work sopra the vineyard to obtain better results: for example, modifying the harvest time to avoid excessive acidity not supported by alcohol, but also excessive sweetness. And, he specifies, these are naturally bottles that do not require ageing, indeed their key factor is freshness: sopra fact, they show the expiry date the label and, once opened, they should be kept sopra the refrigerator (where it is best to keep them even while waiting to aperto them) for a maximum of three days.

From bubbles to still versions

Meanwhile we tasted – with ease and without asking for a crachoir to spit out the wine – also the sparkling Opale sopra the white version, Blanc de Blancs from Chardonnay grapes with a abile and persistent perlage, with floral aromatic agenda, of campo da golf apple and tropical fruit, and the still rosé Opale, distinctly floral but which perhaps has yet to find its perfect balance.

And there is also a red: «We did a lot of tests with the different vines, and the one that surprised me the most was the red from the Piwi Merlot Khorus variety: it is a slightly difficult wine, very tannic, but when it is dealcoholized it softens, while maintaining a vinous character. So much so that sales are equal to those of still white wine, which is rather unusual for this type. And it is highly appreciated especially sopra Asia”, explains Eleonora Spadotto.

For now, sopra fact, the main markets of Franc Lizêr – and of alcohol-free wines, sopra general – are the international ones, and sopra particular the East and Northern Europe, which welcome this type of proposal with interest and openness, while the United States and Canada offer great growth potential. Much less enthusiastic are the Mediterranean countries, where the winemaking tradition is stronger: from France to Greece, naturally also counting Italy which at the moment, for the Friulian winery, represents only 15% of the market. But the Spadottos do not let themselves be discouraged: «We care a lot about it, and we want to work to expand the share and make these products known and appreciated here too».