Prosecco just as premium as Champagne, argues Bottega

Prosecco giant Bottega SpA has claimed that there should not be a price gap between the tank method Italian sparkling wine and Champagne. Speaking with the drinks business at this year’s Vinitaly, managing director Sandro Bottega shared that the company’s goal was to “premiumise Prosecco”, prompting him to ask why prices for the wine were “so much lower than those for Champagne?” According to the company’s analysis, Prosecco is actually “one of the rarest sparkling major wines in the world”. While this may sound odd, given that Prosecco DOC produces around 616 million bottles per annum and Prosecco DOCG produced 90 million, Bottega suggested that if one looks at the size of the production zone, Prosecco comes from a smaller area (if one separates the DOC and DOCG): “8,000 hectares are cultivated for Prosecco Superiore, and 28,000ha for Prosecco DOC, whereas 34,000ha are cultivated in Champagne and 32,000ha for Cava.” “It is much more expensive to cultivate in Prosecco than in Champagne, because the hills are very steep,” he added. According to the data supplied by Bottega SpA, while the average land cost per hectare in Prosecco Superiore is €0.4 million, compared to €1.5m in Champagne, the processing cost per hectare is notably higher – €11,000 in Prosecco Superiore (€1.10 per kilogram of grapes), compared to €7,500 in Champagne (€0.75 per kilo of grapes). Regarding the quality of the fruit, Bottega said: “The major parameters of alcohol, sugar, dry extract, acidity etc., are the same between grapes from Prosecco