King for a night perhaps, but sommelier you don't improvise. Not even on New Year's Eve. For the half-night toast "a bubble, whether it is Classic Method or Italian, should not be rotated in the glass so as not to disperse the precious effervescence. With sparkling wines, therefore, don't overdo it with loswirling, as the English say." This is what Marco Sabellico, historical curator of the Gambero Rosso Guide to Italian Wines, says in a series of video-tutorials on social media where Lorenzo Ruggeri, co-author of the same Guide, suggests the types of wines to toast.
"Only bubbles on the New Year's Eve menu, I would start with a refermented in the bottle, then a Pèt-nat, an Ancestral Method, a Sorbara, now throughout Italy there are very good ones. Young wines with this slight yeasty note that whets the appetite. And then a Franciacorta Extra-Brut, which everyone likes, is a start that suits us very well. Then we start to climb: you can taste a mountain bubble, a Trentodoc for example, and we go on a Zero Dosage, and then maybe go back in time. Always Metodo Classico, let's go by vintages: two great vintages, 2018, I'm thinking maybe of an OltrePo' Pavese, a bit of red fruit and then go to a Riserva di Trento, maybe 2012. A nice Pinot Noir, let's go back to Oltrepò Pavese and in Franciacorta you can find some very good ones. We also go to Rosés to meet colour and concentration."
Other tips come from the Advent calendar published on social media by Vinitaly with a selection of 24 labels to taste during the convivial meetings of the end-of-year celebrations. For those who are travelling, it may be superfluous to memorize local wines: "Prosecco will certainly be the most uncorked sparkling wine at midnight on December 31st, excluding France, Belgium and a few other French-speaking countries" says Sandro Bottega, owner of Bottega spa, according to whom "our flagship sparkling wine owes its fortune to the quality, the dress, and its adaptability to any dish, from sushi to lobster, from pesto to cacio epepe pasta, from pizza to barbecue". To avoid domestic accidents when popping corks, a study by the University of Cambridge suggests preferring champagne or bubbles with screw caps and cooling the bottle to lower the speed of the cork, otherwise it can leak at 80 kilometers per hour. Finally, it is important to avoid shaking the bottle when it is opened, but to turn it towards yourself or towards your companions in the evening.
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