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Santero Pinot-Chardonnay Spumante Brut NV
SparklingItalyNV
By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-11-07 · Published 2026-09-09 · Updated 2026-09-09
At a glance
No major critic scores · no critic listed on Vivino · Wine21 consumer rating 3.7 · featured in volume 15 of the manga 'The Drops of God'
Market note: 64% of its 7,337 Vivino ratings are exactly 3 stars — a wine that converges on 'fine' with neither love nor hate. A striking share of the reviews come from supermarkets and restaurants in Korea, Japan and China, which tells you where Santero's real market is. Brand recognition in Korea is high enough that Hyundai Department Store launched a separate '958 Santero' range in July 2025.
What this wine is
Santero is a spumante specialist in Santo Stefano Belbo, the home village of Moscato d'Asti in the Langhe hills of southern Piedmont. It was founded in 1958 by the Santero brothers (four of them, as the story goes), and the '958' on the label is that founding year. A modern 18,000-square-metre plant went up in 1977, and today the company buys grapes from more than 300 local growers to make around 20 million bottles a year. This is not the Piedmont of Barolo and Barbaresco but the Piedmont of Asti Spumante — the Piedmont of sparkling wine at scale. It is still family-owned, run by the founders' descendants Gianfranco, Pierpaolo, Lorenza and Fabrizio.
The Pinot-Chardonnay Spumante Brut is the house's dry line: 50% Pinot Bianco and 50% Chardonnay, given its second fermentation in tank by the Charmat method, 11.5% alcohol. There is no vintage and little ageing; it is a wine to drink young and cold (6–8°C). The importer's sheet talks of yellow apple, starfruit, pineapple, butter and chalk; the community's keywords are overwhelmingly green apple and citrus. What makes it special in Korea is not quality but position. It has held the same spot in the Costco wine aisle for more than a decade, and after volume 15 of the manga 'The Drops of God' presented it as 'the everyday spumante to choose instead of Champagne', it became the supermarket sparkling of the nation.
What the world says
Critics do not review this wine. The numbers make up for it. 7,337 Vivino ratings, average 3.4 — and 4,669 of them, 64%, are exactly 3 stars. 27% are 4 or above, 10% are 2 or below. It is the most tightly bunched distribution of any wine in this magazine: no rapture, no disappointment, just a consensus of 'fine'. The keywords put citrus (242 mentions) and green apple, apple and pear (241) neck and neck at the top, followed by pineapple (48), honey (33) and yeast (24). Aged notes such as brioche or nuts barely register. Structure: fizziness 3.7/5, acidity 3.2, intensity 2.8.
The geography of the reviews is the interesting part. An Italian restaurant in Shanghai, a wine bar in Ginza, a ski trip in Japan, Lotte Department Store and Costco in Korea. The reviews draw a map of where Santero actually sells.
"Italian spumante brut. Mild fizz, green apple aroma, ginger-like minerality on the palate, a slight bitterness on the finish. Easy as a daily sparkling." — Vivino review, Jul 2023, 3.8 stars
"Lovely fresh bubbles with a fruity nose. Light, but the finish lasts long enough. Pleasantly citrus, not that sweet — reminds me of a picnic in early summer. Easy drinking and good value." — Vivino review, Mar 2018, 3.5 stars
"The bubbles seemed like a Champagne that had been open an hour — delicate but very weak. Green apple on the nose, yeast with faint citrus on the palate. Fine with an ordinary meal, but there are better alternatives even at this price." — Vivino review, Mar 2022, 3.6 stars
How I drank it
November 7, 2019, 3.5 stars. "Low grade Dom Pérignon."
Go back to the record and this note exists because of the line directly above it. That day I gave Dom Pérignon 2008 the first 5 stars of my life: apple, pineapple, tropical fruit, guava, a huge rush of bubbles and a very long finish. Then, straight afterwards, I opened the Santero. Next to a Champagne costing over ₩500,000 (about US$360), the best a ₩20,000 spumante could manage was 'a smaller version pointing the same way', and that is what I wrote in one line. A rude comparison, but not a wrong one. The fruit axis — apple and pineapple — was there in both bottles. What was missing was everything behind it: the brioche, the nuts, ten years in bottle.
And yet my 3.5 sits slightly above the community's 3.4. This is one of the very few wines in this magazine where I was more generous than the crowd. I suspect the benchmark cut the other way: right after the Dom Pérignon my expectations were on the floor, and in that spot the crisp green apple and the fizz did more than I expected. The following week I gave the Canti Prosecco 4 stars and the Ruhlmann crémant rosé 3, so 3.5 is exactly 'upper half of supermarket sparkling'.
Here is how I file it now. This is not a substitute for Champagne; it is the wine for the evenings when there is no reason to open Champagne. Chikin (Korean fried chicken) and fritters, sushi, the jeon (savoury pancakes) fried for the holidays. In the mid-₩20,000s (Vinobot, Aug 2026, about US$18) you can empty a bottle over dinner without thinking about it, and the 375 ml half is good for a glass alone. But 'low grade Dom Pérignon' was unfair to Santero and to Dom Pérignon alike. Santero only earns its 3.5 when you drink it as Santero.
Vivino community data
NV vintage rating distribution (7337 ratings, average 3.4)
| 5★ | 299 (4%) | |
| 4★ | 1668 (23%) | |
| 3★ | 4669 (64%) | |
| 2★ | 606 (8%) | |
| 1★ | 95 (1%) |
Most-mentioned aromas
| Family | Mentions | Top keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Citrus | 242 | citrus 143 · lemon 65 · lime 17 · grapefruit 13 |
| Tree fruit | 241 | green apple 133 · apple 43 · pear 41 · peach 10 · apricot 6 |
| Tropical fruit | 48 | pineapple 41 · mango 4 |
| Honey & minerals | 45 | honey 33 · minerals 12 |
| Yeast & cream | 35 | yeast 24 · cheese 5 · cream 2 |
| Oak | 18 | butter 8 · vanilla 5 · oak 4 |
| Vegetal | 13 | grass 10 · gooseberry 2 |
Structure: Acidity 3.2/5 · Fizziness 3.7/5 · Intensity 2.8/5
Average by vintage (all vintages: 7337 ratings, average 3.4)
| Vintage | Average | Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| NV | 3.4 | 7337 |
My original note (Vivino, 2019-11-07)
“Low grade Dom perignon.”
Buying in Korea
Frequently asked questions
What kind of wine is Santero Pinot-Chardonnay Spumante?
A non-vintage dry sparkling from Santero in Piedmont, Italy (founded 1958, 20 million bottles a year). 50% Pinot Bianco and 50% Chardonnay, Charmat method, 11.5% alcohol. A light, crisp style of green apple, citrus, pear and pineapple; Vivino 3.4 (7,337 ratings). It has been Korea's best-known value sparkling at Costco and the supermarkets for over a decade.
How much does it cost?
Korean retail ₩24,000–29,000 (Vinobot, August 2026, about US$17–21); the importer's list price is ₩30,000 for 750 ml (about US$22). Costco sold it in the high ₩10,000s (about US$13) for years. A 375 ml half is ₩23,000 (about US$17) and a 1.5 L magnum ₩86,000 (about US$62). The importer is Ahyoung FBC.
What food does it go with?
Vivino suggests appetizers, snacks and aperitif. Dry and light, it works with chikin (Korean fried chicken) and anything fried, sushi and sashimi, holiday jeon (savoury pancakes), salads and cream soups. Serve at 6–8°C and drink within a year or two of purchase.
Can it stand in for Champagne?
It differs by about as much as the price does. Charmat method and short ageing mean almost no brioche or nutty notes, and the bubbles are softer and fade faster than Champagne's. What it does deliver is honest green-apple and citrus freshness — which is why 'The Drops of God' called it 'the everyday spumante to choose instead of Champagne'. Having drunk it the same day as Dom Pérignon and given it 3.5 stars, my view is that it is not a Champagne substitute but the wine for the evenings when there is no reason to open Champagne.