The sole mission: achieving the excellence

The first and most important goal of Sanfeletto has always been achieving the highest quality in its Prosecco.
The first secret to reach this is to monitor personally and thoroughly each step of the production process. From grapevines cultivation to the harvest, from the sparkling process to the distribution of the final product in the market, at SANFELETTO every stage is followed with obsessive care.
The expertise in the sparkling process of the enologist, Paolo Ceschin, is paramount to obtain an outstanding Prosecco. Paolo has been studying and working in the production of this wine for more than 45 years and this allowed him to gain a unique know-how of Prosecco sparkling techniques. In his pursuit of excellence, he personally follows every phase of the winemaking process, from the field to the bottling.

A harsh environment, tamed by hand labor, provides divine fruits

The winery works exclusively with “Glera” grapes from the steep slopes of the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superior DOCG area, carrying out a careful selection of the best vineyards to obtain grapes of high quality.
A negligible use of fertilizers, a limited number of vines per hectare, a tireless hand work in the vineyards, a harvest carried out exclusively by hand: these are just a few of those ingredients that contribute to the creation of excellent grapes.
The natural virtues of this environment, as sunlight exposition, steady ventilation, a dry microclimate and scarcity of organic substances in the soil, do the rest.

The winery works exclusively with “Glera” grapes

Enology: a glance towards future and innovation

Harvest and vinification

In the winery, the result of this devotion to the pursuit of perfection is a set of techniques which links the best traditional practices with the most innovative technologies available in the world of enology.
It is worth mentioning, for example, that from the moment in which the grapes come to the winery to the one in which the bottle is corked, every step is carried out under “inert atmosphere”. The systematic elimination of the contact of the wine with the oxygen in the air allows to preserve entirely the aromatic heritage of the grapes, as well as to reduce dramatically the use of antioxidant (sulphites).
Even the pressing of the grapes is performed using a frontier technology, extracting the juice under vacuum instead of under pressure. Thanks to this new approach, the grapes are pressed extremely softly. This new technique allows to obtain an extremely “clean” must, free from those undesirable secondary substances that are present on berries’ peel, which would interfere in the wine with coarse and unpleasant marks and spoil its elegance and finesse.

The first fermentation

Once the must is extracted, it rests one night at cold temperatures, in order to let the heaviest and coarsest lees precipitate. After that, it is transferred to a new temperature-controlled stainless steel tank and inoculated with selected yeasts to induce the first fermentation. After this process, the young wine is transferred several times from a tank to the other in order to favour a natural, gradual static clarification.
Once all the sugar is turned into alcohol, the yeast dies and precipitates on the bottom of the tanks. Its autolysis generates new natural substances that improve the organoleptic characteristics of the wine and contribute to its preservation.

The creation of the cuvée

Once they become mature, the different lots of this “base wine” are thoroughly analysed both from the chemical and from the organoleptic point of view. In this phase, different tanks may be blended according to precise proportions, in order to obtain the highest final quality.
This is the most delicate and important stage: the expertise, passion and especially the experience of the winemaker are key for the creation of great cuvées.

The second fermentation or “prise de mousse”

Once the cuvées, or base wines, are assembled, it is time to turn them sparkling.
The wine is transferred to an autoclave where sugar and selected yeasts are added, so that the “prise de mousse” can finally occur.
This second fermentation causes an increase of the alcoholic content of the wine and, at the same time, of its pressure: the yeasts naturally release carbon dioxide which cannot get out of the closed, airtight environment of the autoclave and remains “trapped”, melted into the wine.
Patience, mastery and experience are essential to carry out successfully this phase, as all the fermentation parameters must be constantly monitored and interpreted wisely to achieve the best result possible.

The second fermentation or “prise de mousse” SanFeletto

The bottling and maturation in the bottle

Once the second fermentation is over, the sparkling wine (which appears eventually as the Prosecco we all know) is bottled under pressure and at a low temperature, in order to preserve the natural vivacity of its bubbles. This phase must be carried out with extreme attention as it is fundamental to exclude whatever contact between the wine and the air, to avoid the risk of oxidation.
Once bottled, a period of refinement and maturation follows. Indeed, resting for some months in a dark and fresh environment allows the Prosecco to recover from the “stress” of the bottling and recreate its equilibrium and harmony.

The bottling and maturation in the bottle SanFeletto