spumante

Italian; sparkling wines. See also frizzante.

pl. spumanti [spoo-MAHN-tay; spoo-MAHN-tee] Italian for "sparkling," as in wine. See also asti spumante; frizzante.

[spoo-MAHN-tay; spoo-MAHN-tee] Italian for "sparkling," "foamy," or "frothy," referring to fully sparkling wines, as opposed to those that are slightly sparkling (frizzante). Spumante is made throughout Italy from a variety of different grapes either by the Metodo Classico (méthode champenoise) or by using an autoclave (sealed tanks). The most renowned of the spumanti are the sweet asti docg wines from the piedmont region, which are made from the muscat grape and the franciacorta docg wines from the lombardy region, which are made from combinations of Pinot Bianco (pinot blanc), chardonnay, Pinot Grigio (pinot gris), and Pinot Nero (pinot noir).