The difference between Frizzante and Spumante

Last week I discussed the difference between two of the popular methods for producing Italian sparkling wines, the charmat method and the metodo classico. This week I wanted to share some of the classifications when it comes to sparkling wines of Italy, sprumante and frizzante.

Differences between Frizzante and Spumante

So what's the difference between spumante and frizzante sparkling wines of Italy? In simplest terms the biggest difference between them are the levels of efferescense or bubbles produced in each bottle. Technically speaking, spumante wines are fully sparkling wines over 3 bars of pressure where frizzante wines are semi-sparkling wines between 1-2.5 bars of pressure.

Frizzante

Often you'll find prosecco as a popular type of frizzante wine produced in the Veneto region. Prosecco is produced from the glera grape, but beware of some of the cheaper versions of prosecco. Some of the best expressions of Prosecco hail from the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene. You'll also find other frizzante wines in Piedmont including Moscato d'Asti, Brachetto d'Acqui, Lambrusco and pignoletto of the Emilia Romagna region.

Photo by Fabio Bruna

Spumante

Of course one of the most popular types of spumante wines known on the market is Asti Spumante, but when we talk about quality there are those of the Trento DOC of the Trentino-Alto Adige and Franciacorta of Lombardy.

Photo by Magnus Reuterdahl

I've never been one to choose a sparkling wine unless I'm at a tasting and it's offered I'll always give everything a shot. For me personally, I'm not one for effervescence and I believe that's the reason why, but when I sample a high quality sparkling wine with beautifully soft, integrated bubbles with the other elements of the wine, it provides a harmonious sparkling experience. What are your favorite sparkling wines?

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