Pronounced spoo-mahn-tay. Italian term for sparkling wine, in contrast to the term frizzante which refers to those wines that are slightly sparkling. A variety of spumante wines are produced in Italy. Spumante is made in red, white, and rosé styles and can range from quite dry to very sweet. Italy’s sparkling wines are made using either the charmat method (sealed tank fermentation) or the method champenoise (bottle fermentation).
Asti Spumante is a most notable spumante produced in the Piedmont region of Italy. Asti Spumante is made from the Muscat grape varietal and is characteristically sweet.
