feature / on the vine / Ca’del Bosco
four-year window in which to market this device, but Jetting itself was not an easy sell and, although cheaper, it took longer than four years to build up its own sales. Had it been invented ten years earlier, licensing could have paid for its development, but the only benefit for Ca’del Bosco now is that it has exclusive use of what might be a superior technology. Anyone who has read my position on Jetting will know that I am a big fan, and yet, looking at both Jetting and Ca’del Bosco’s nitrogen chamber, I get the feeling that the latter has the edge. A feeling, however, is not science, and I would dearly love to see these two systems tested under laboratory conditions.
Franciacorta's single greatest promoter Ca’del Bosco is a globally recognized luxury sparkling-wine brand. Maurizio might not be the Father of Franciacorta, but he has become its single greatest promoter and he embodies the notion that world-class sparkling wines can be produced here. This praise does not come unqualified. Ca’del Bosco has a
major flaw. Maurizio once claimed in an interview, “I am Taliban when it comes to quality. There is no compromise.” And yet he continues to use clear-glass bottles for Cuvée Prestige and Cuvée Prestige Rosé, which is a compromise too far. When I put this to him, he pointed out the orange cellophane
wrapping, used to protect the wine from light-strike. So, I explained to Maurizio that I have seen bottles of Roederer Cristal with their protective covering removed in a brightly lit fridge in a supposedly top-flight establishment. I wish Roederer did not use clear-glass bottles, but I recognize the 150 years of history wrapped up in the Cristal bottle, and if Roederer is willing to risk the quality and reputation of one of the monumentally greatest Champagnes in existence, then so be it.
146 | THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 79 | 2023
For everybody else, however, the only excuse is marketing and how pretty the bottle looks. As I put to Maurizio “If the protective wrapping is removed and bottles are put on display under bright lights even where there is team of professional sommeliers reporting to a head sommelier, who in turn reports to a wine director, what do you think happens behind closed doors of ordinary folk at home?” Clear glass is the most glaring flaw at Ca’del Bosco, and its solution is profit-plus, as dark amber glass is cheaper and there would be no need for protective wrapping. Traditional corks are another flaw on the quality control checklist and it is one that applies to thousands of other sparkling wine producers as well. The threat they represent is less obvious and less known. Virtually all of the corks that I have drawn from a bottle of Ca’del Bosco have been beautiful to look at and sweet to smell, but even the best natural cork discs on the most expensive traditional stoppers are useless. They are cut the wrong way, leaving the lenticels to act like oxygen super-highways (see my “Cutting Remarks,” WFW 70, 2020 p.94). I am one of DIAM MytiK Diamant’s biggest fans, but I understand why that is not the solution for those producers who want the aromatics associated with natural cork. I would urge them, however, not to risk their wines aging on the rough and raw aromatics of the agglomerate just for the sake of picking up some natural- cork aromas along the way. Instead, ask your cork supplier to quote you for traditional sparkling wine stoppers with the discs cut the right way. Yes, they will be expensive, so this will not be a profit-plus answer, but if a producer believes in the quality of his sparkling wine, it will be a cost-effective solution.
Above: Maurizio Zanella's spectacular "Berry spa" at Ca'del Bosco.
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