Clear or Cloudy: Delving into Sui Lieviti Prosecco and the 2020 Bianca Vigna Brut Nature

During my visit to Italy for the 2022 Wine Media Conference in Lake Garda, we embarked on a pre-conference trip to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene (“C-V”) in northeastern Italy, the heart of the Prosecco Superiore DOCG denomination. This magical and unforgettable experience was filled with highlights, including visits to several fabulous Prosecco Superiore producers, hiking through the picturesque region, and dining at a local restaurant with a predominantly Prosecco wine list. One of the most enchanting discoveries was the charm of Sui Lieviti Prosecco.

What is Sui Lieviti Prosecco?

Formally designated as Sui Lieviti DOCG Brut Nature, this traditional method was permitted by the DOCG in 2019, allowing winemakers to embrace and revive this age-old technique.

Unlike traditional Prosecco, which undergoes secondary fermentation in stainless steel tanks, Sui Lieviti Prosecco ferments in the bottle. But, the wine is never disgorged.

This distinctive process creates a sparkling wine that still has a fine sediment of spent yeast cells in it, also known as lees. Sui lieviti means the same thing as the French sur lie, or “on the lees.” Because the wine is never disgorged, the yeasts keep working until they have used up all the sugar added to the base wine before it is bottled, resulting in a Brut Nature wine with less than 3 grams per liter of residual sugar.

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