If today Italy is one of the most important wine-making realities in the world, credit also goes to the sparkling wine obtained with the Martinotti method, invented by Federico Martinotti, from Casale , whose death centenary falls this year. Asti DOCG, Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG, Prosecco DOC, Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG and Lambrusco DOC are just some of the sparkling wines obtained with this method, which bring the name of Italy to the world.
To commemorate its fundamental role, ONAV organized the conference “Martinotti: One Hundred Years of Italian Sparkling Wine” a few days before the start of the holidays, during which an estimated 335 million bottles of sparkling wine were consumed (7%), mostly produced using the Martinotti method (source: UIV Ismea Observatory).
Martinotti was a revolutionary figure, the inventor of the method that involves the sparkling process in an autoclave , which allows on the one hand to maintain the varietal characteristics of the grapes, and on the other to obtain the sparkling wine in a few months instead of years, as in the case of the Classic Method. With his invention, Martinotti contributed to making wine an essential sector for the Italian economy : today in Italy almost every winery produces at least one wine with this method and in some districts sparkling wine represents almost all of the production.
<< ONAV was born in Asti and has been spreading the culture of wine in Italy and abroad since 1951. – Says ONAV President Vito Intini. - Being able to remember Martinotti in our new headquarters, hosting many producers, tasters and journalists in person and online, means contributing to the diffusion of the culture of sparkling wine. For this reason we have decided to offer an excursus on the history of sparkling wine in Italy, projecting it towards the future >>.
In addition to inventing for the first time the method of natural refermentation in an autoclave, later industrialized by Charmat, Martinotti was also an all-round innovator . Suffice it to say that, during Prohibition, he was commissioned by the Calissano company to produce a sparkling wine and a vermouth without alcohol, a very topical issue today.
Born in 1860, he patented the autoclave sparkling wine production process in 1895 and was the director of the Royal Experimental Station of Asti until his death. Accompanying those present on a journey through time, under the guidance of Vincenzo Gerbi , president of the ONAV Scientific Council, were Giusi Mainardi , director of OICCE Times, who outlined the scientist's biography, Antonella Bosso , Director Technologist of CREA VE, who spoke about the many studies of this courageous scientist, Andrea Desana , President of the Casale Monferrato Capitale della DOC Committee, who explained the proposal to include the wording "Metodo Italiano Martinotti" on the label at a national and international level. Pierstefano Berta , director of OICCE, then traced the history of sparkling wine production between the 19th and 20th centuries and Enzo Cagnasso , Professor at the University of Turin, explained the differences between the Martinotti Method and the Classic Method.
The directors of two of the most important sparkling wine companies testified to the production world. Giacomo Pondini , representing the Asti DOCG Consortium, presented the project to recover the material on the sparkling wine history of the denomination, in which a large space will be dedicated to Martinotti, to then make it available to the territory. An activity that follows the traveling exhibition that the Consortium has been promoting for two years to raise awareness of the denomination.
< Comments Stefano Ricagno, president of the Asti DOCG Consortium. - Celebrating one hundred years of Italian sparkling wine production means not only looking at the successes of the past, but also reflecting on the challenges and future prospects of Italian bubbles, starting with those protected by our Consortium>>.
Diego Tomasi , director of the Consortium for the Protection of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, spoke about the historical and scientific ties between Federico Martinotti and Antonio Carpenè, the latter being the promoter of the birth of the success of Prosecco in the world, who was already experimenting with alternative sparkling wine production techniques.
