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Producers optimistic of 2021 ‘launch’ for rosé Prosecco

Published:  26 July, 2019

When it comes to global wine trends Prosecco and rosé are both at the business end of the list, so when news from the Prosecco DOC Consortium began to filter through about a new rosé category for the famous Italian fizz the trade and customers alike got very excited.

The idea was first floated a few years ago but now it looks increasingly like a reality, with some Prosecco producers eying 1st January 2021 as a potential launch date for pink Prosecco.

“The route has been definitively taken by the Prosecco DOC Consortium and it is now only a matter of fine-tuning the specifications to achieve the integration of the rosé within the denomination,” Stefano Silenzi from Zonin told Harpers.

He explains that the rosé will be produced from Glera and Pinot Noir grapes – the latter expected to make up to 15% of the blend - and may be a ‘millesimé’ category, meaning that only vintage wines are permitted.

“The market launch will be possible from 1st January following the harvest and therefore we expect a debut from 1st January 2021,” he said.

This timescale is backed up by Henkell Freixenet, which owns the Mionetto Prosecco and Freixenet Prosecco brands. “We are expecting to harvest the grapes for our first rosé Prosecco in 2020, with a possible market launch in 2021,” said senior vice president Sandra Janetzki.

“In general, the Consortium has given its approval for a rosé Prosecco made from Glera and Pinot Noir grapes, but there are still some legal issues that need to be dealt with before the harvest and production of a rosé Prosecco can start,” she added.

Bottega has had huge success with its Bottega Rose Gold, a sparkling rosé made in Lombardy from Pinot Noir, and are ready to push the button on production of a rosé Prosecco to sit alongside it.

Sandro Bottega, owner and managing director at Bottega, knows that making quality rosé wine in Prosecco will be a tricky business, however. “Rosé wines, especially rosé sparkling wines, are difficult to produce,” he said.

“Yet, they are more elegant, they sport an outstanding charm, and their image always attracts the female consumers.”

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