AZIENDA AGRICOLA FRASSINELLI

Founded in 1966 by Aldo Frassinelli, the 13 hectares estate is today run by his children Roberta, who is in charge of sales, marketing and exports, and Gianluca, who makes the wine. Their vines range in age from 10 to 25 years. The soil is generally white limestone.

The quality ladder of Prosecco is as follows: Cartizze (Grand Cru Classé level); Rive (single vineyard 1er Cru Level on steep slopes); DOCG; DOC Treviso; DOC. Frassinelli’s stunning Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Extra Dry DOCG (100% Glera) has its second fermentation in autoclave: this lasts between 30 and 40 days, at a temperature of 15-16° C. The residual sugar is 16 gm/l.

Prosecco Superiore DOCG Rive di Santa Maria di Feletto Millesimato: One of the finest crus in Prosecco, the slopes of Rive di Santa Maria lie in the northernmost part of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, at an altitude of 220 m.a.s.l. The grapes are hand-picked in the second week of September, and are always used to make a vintage wine. This has a lovely minerally edge to it, and is quite a bit drier than most Proseccos, with only 4 gms/l residual sugar. A truly stellar Prosecco!

Rosé Spumante Brut is a blend of Merlot and Raboso, picked separately, the latter about four weeks after the former. They are blended for the second fermentation, which lasts 40 days. The RS is 10 gm/l. They do not use sugar for the dosage but concentrated Prosecco must.

The first official Prosecco DOC Rosé was finally approved by the Consorzio Tutela del Prosecco in 2021. Made from Glera and between 10-15% Pinot Noir, the yield is restricted to 18 tons/hectare for Glera and 13.5 tons/hectare for the Pinot Noir. It will be “Millesimato” (or vintage) and at least 85% of the grapes must come from the specified year.

www.frassinelli.it