Single Vineyard Proseccos at the Base of the Dolomites

The Farro Vineyard at Sorelle Bronca

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, our own personal wine selections have been the topic of conversation this week. What are we serving? More importantly, what are we pouring?

Bubbles are a must. Handing a glass of sparkling wine to your friends and family members as they arrive is one of the great joys of the holiday season. At Oliver McCrum, many of us have long-standing Thanksgiving traditions that include the Sorelle Bronca Proseccos—partly because we’ve been representing them for decades, but also because they never cease to inspire us with their exuberance and grace.

With 100% organic vineyards overshadowed by the towering Dolomites, the wines of Sorelle Bronca are incredibly crisp and refreshing, thanks to plenty of acidity from the high elevation. They are also brimming with stone fruits—apples, pears—coupled with subtle herbaceous aromatics that dial up the complexity. The Valdobbiadene Brut and Extra Dry are both exquisite and are two of the most consumed wines by our sales team annually (and probably lifetime, as well!). However, if you’re looking for something serious this Thanksgiving, the single vineyard Proseccos are definitely worth splurging for.

The Colbertaldo vineyard is both protected by the mountains and well-exposed to the sun, making it the source of Sorelle Bronca’s finest fruit. It’s also the home of Particella 68, arguably the best parcel on the hill and the first of Sorelle Bronca’s single vineyard expressions. The site is roughly 500 yards from the edge of the Cartizze boundary, the most prized growing area in the Prosecco zone, and comprised mostly of Glera with very small amounts of the other traditional indigenous varieties: Verdisio, Bianchetta, and Perera. No sugar is added during or after production; it’s one of the purest and most crystalline Proseccos you’re likely to ever taste.

Particella 181 sits in the Rua di Filetto vineyard, a majestic site surround by a forest with lush trees. The soil is a reddish, iron-tinged stony marl and the slope is steep, so hand-harvesting is both necessary and arduous. The results are entirely worth it, however. Aged on the lees for six months before bottling, the wine is impossibly fresh and lively with a haunting elegance of fruit that can pair with anything you throw at it (like an entire Thanksgiving spread).

Particella 232 is located in the Farro vineyard at the base of the Dolomites, surrounding by natural woods, along the hills of Conegliano—an UNESCO World Heritage site. Vinified as Extra Brut, Particella 232 strays from Sorelle Bronca’s classic extra dry style, using a single fermentation from juice directly to sparkling wine, and retaining more of the classic pear aroma that makes Prosecco distinctive. It’s more linear on the palate and the fruit pops in all the right places, lifted by the lithe effervescence.

Any of the Proseccos from Sorelle Bronca would make a fine addition to your holiday meals, but these three in particular continue to capture our imagination, time and time again.