Prosecco is the white rose of Italian wine. Why rose? Because the highest quality and reputation of the drink are also emphasized by its enormous popularity. It is exported outside of Italy more than any other wine.
Besides, In 2014, Prosecco surpassed French champagne in the number of bottles sold worldwide. Many people mistakenly believe that it is only available in a sparkling version. In fact, there are several types of drink. Our article will help you find out the whole truth about Prosecco and even a little more.
Interestingly, Prosecco began its life under a completely different name. In the city of Trieste at the beginning of the 16th century, the local wine “Ribolla” was identified with the ancient drink Pucino, not only described by Pliny the Elder in his “Natural History”, but also highly praised for its medicinal properties by the wife of Emperor Augustus.
The need to distinguish Ribolla from Trieste from wines with a similar name from other regions of Italy ultimately led to a change in its name. The drink was christened in honor of the supposed place of production in ancient times - the village of Prosecco.
The first known mention of a wine with the name “Prosecco” is attributed to the Englishman Fiennes Morison, who, having visited northern Italy in 1593, described the drink in detail and put it on a par with the famous wines of the republic. In 1754, the term Prosecco appeared in the book Il roccolo Ditirambo by Avreliano Acanti.
Until the 1960s, Prosecco was quite sweet and only slightly different from the wine produced in (Piemonte). But manufacturers did not stand still, intensively improving their technologies. And today there are high-quality dry drinks on the market.
2008 Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, Prosecco di Conegliano and Prosecco di Valdobbiadene were awarded. In 2009, the wine raised its status to DOCG class.
Production
A drink with the name Prosecco today can boast not only the lion's share of the sparkling wine market, but also strict regulatory regulation of its production. The production area is limited to part of the region (Veneto), except Rovigo and (Verona), and the entire region (Friuli-Venezia Giulia).
The grape used to make Prosecco is called Glera. Its content must be at least 85% of the total mass of raw materials. A small part of the berries (no more than 15%) is allowed to be supplemented with the following varieties: Verdiso, Bianchetta Trevigiana, Perera, Glera lunga, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, and Pinot Nero.
The method for producing most varieties of Prosecco is known as the Charmat-Martinotti method. It consists in the fact that after the vinification and filtration processes, the wine is sent for fermentation in autoclaves under pressure. The product remains in the apparatus for a very short time (15-20 days) compared to the classic bottle fermentation typical for the production of French champagne.
After completing the above stage, the wine is transferred to another autoclave and again filtered to ensure its characteristic clarity. The Prosecco is then bottled and sealed with a plastic stopper with the typical mushroom shape.
There is a variant of expensive Prosecco, which is made using the classic method of fermentation in a bottle. This is the so-called Prosecco Col Fondo. It is highly prized, but rarely found on sale.
Quality levels
There are various levels of Prosecco available on the market today. In a visual representation of the area of production territories, they form a kind of pyramid.
Figure Peak is an unsurpassed drink in its category. If you start from the bottom, the list of levels will look like this:
- – the most popular version of the drink. It is produced in 9 provinces of the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions.
- Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG– the most concentrated version of Prosecco. For him, the grapes grow in the hills between the communes of Valdobbiadene and Conegliano.
- Colli Asolani DOCG– a wine whose bottles do not contain the term Prosecco. Produced in the province of Trevisio (vineyards on the hills of Montello and Coli Asolani).
- Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive DOCG- a product from the hilly area between Vittorio Veneto and Valdobbiadene, comprising a total of 43 communes. Available only in sparkling version.
- Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG- a drink whose production area is limited to only 0.4 hectares of land west of Valdobbiadene. The combination of soil and climatic factors in this area is considered the most ideal for Glera grapes. What makes the bouquet of future Prosecco aromas unsurpassed in comparison with lower levels.
Some wineries produce Prosecco in the IGT category. A lower category of drink corresponds to lower quality indicators. But it should be noted that Only professional experts can determine the difference in taste and aroma.
Varieties
Depending on the pressure to which the drink is subjected during the production and bottling process, the resulting Prosecco options are:
- Frizzante– pressure in the bottle is less than 3 atm. Minimum alcohol content 9%. Light, short play of bubbles in the glass.
- Spumante– pressure – more than 3 atm. Minimum alcohol content 11%. Numerous, persistent play of bubbles in the glass.
A still version of the wine is also available. In Italy they call it tranquillo, which means “quiet”. The minimum alcohol content in it is 10.5%. It is not very popular, so the number of bottles produced per year does not exceed 5% of the total volume of Prosecco. However, it is practically not exported.
In all variations, it is a straw-colored drink with a fresh, fruity taste. According to the level of sweetness, sparkling wines are divided into:
- Brut– up to 12 g per 1 liter of residual sugars (RS). The most modern version. Characterized by a delicate aroma with citrus, plant notes and floral motifs.
- Extra-dry– 12-17 g/l os. Traditional option. Rich aromas of fruits, apples and pears. The taste is soft, but at the same time dry.
- Dry or dry– 17-32 g/l os. It differs from other versions in the aroma of ripe fruits with tropical notes and a piquant taste.
Still Prosecco is available only in a dry version. It is worth noting that until the mid-1970s, only Prosecco tranquillo was traditional. After the introduction of the Charmat-Martinotti method, winemakers mastered a wide range of sparkling drinks.
Which Prosecco is worth trying?
The great popularity and huge variety of types of Prosecco, on the one hand, gives scope for choice, but on the other hand, puts the buyer in a kind of consumer impasse. How to choose a product with the best price-quality ratio? In Italy, the Vinibuoni d’Italia guide helps solve this issue, containing a list of the best wine producers at the end of the year. According to him, we have compiled a list of priority bottles of Prosecco:
- Asolo-Prosecco Docg spumante superiore Extra Dry millesimato 2014, Cirotto di Asolo winery, price 10-12 Euro.
- Valdobbiadene Prosecco superiore Docg spumante Brut 2014, winery Bortolin Angelo Spumanti di Valdobbiadene, price 10-12 Euro.
- Valdobbiadene Prosecco superiore Docg spumante Brut 5 grammi 2013, Malibran di Susegana winery, price 13-15 Euro.
- Valdobbiadene Prosecco superiore Docg spumante Brut Particella 68 2014, Sorelle Bronca di Vidor winery, price 15-17 Euro.
- Valdobbiadene Prosecco superiore Docg spumante Brut Rive di Farra di Soligo Col Credas 2014, Adami di Vido winery, price 12-14 Euro.
- Valdobbiadene Prosecco superiore Docg spumante Brut Vecchie viti 2014, Ruggeri di Valdobbiadene winery, price 16-18 Euro.
- Valdobbiadene Prosecco superiore Docg spumante Extra Dry 2014, producer Vetoraz Spumanti di Valdobbiadene, price 12-14 Euro.
Prosecco Martini is especially popular in the post-Soviet space. The famous brand produces a DOC drink with a strength of 11.5%. Its color is straw-yellow, its aroma is delicate with soft fruity notes. The taste is harmonious and broad. The cost of wine in the republic does not exceed 5 Euros per 0.75 liter.
How and with what to drink
In Italy, Prosecco is a ubiquitous wine. Outside the republic, it is more often drunk as an aperitif. Like other sparkling wines, it is served chilled (6-8 degrees). The best glass is a tulip glass. Its height and slenderness retain bubbles for a long time, and its wide rounded top collects the whole bouquet of fruity aromas.
Unlike champagne, Prosecco does not ferment in the bottle, and over time its perlage wears out. Therefore, they drink wine young (under 3 years of age). Although high-quality drinks can be aged for up to 7 years. The average calorie content of alcohol is within 120 kcal.
Prosecco is a surprisingly versatile wine. It goes well with a wide range of dishes. Prosecco Brut, thanks to its rich taste, is an excellent accompaniment for all types of appetizers, first courses, pasta, rice and white meat, fish and (fresh and medium-aged).
Still wine is served with soups or omelettes.
The Extra Dry version is ideal as an aperitif. Its mild taste neatly complements seafood, legume soups and white meat.
Dry Prosecco is sweet enough to accompany desserts and is also great with fruit and seafood (especially mussels).
The modern consumer loves to experiment, creating unusual tastes. Bartenders have not ignored the popular wine, making it the soul of many cocktails. We have collected for you several unusual recipes that you can easily prepare at home:
- El Dorado: Tequila – 50 ml, – 40 ml, tangerine juice – 74 ml, Prosecco Brut – 100 ml, ice cubes.
- Barracuda: Rum – 75 ml, Galliano liqueur – 25 ml, fresh pineapple juice – 100 ml, Prosecco Extra-dry as a top.
- Red Moon: watermelon juice – 80 ml, pineapple juice – 40 ml, strawberry juice – 40 ml, Prosecco Brut – 40 ml.
- Revolution: pineapple juice – 80 ml, mint syrup – 20 ml, fresh mint – 3 leaves, brown sugar – 1 teaspoon, Prosecco Spumante Brut – 100 ml, apple and lime, cut into cubes.
All cocktails are prepared the same way. In a shaker or blender, beat all the ingredients except sparkling wine (with the exception of apples and limes in the Revolution, which are placed at the bottom of the glass). Fill an ice-chilled glass with the resulting mixture and top up with Prosecco. The wine glass can be decorated with a slice of any fruit.
Now the famous Italian wine hides much fewer secrets from you. All we have to do is pass the baton into your hands so you can go in search of your Prosecco. Live according to your possibilities, fall in love with opposites and remember: “A holiday is incomplete without Prosecco for both the bourgeois and the common man!”
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Prosecco DOC (Prosecco)– an extensive wine-growing area located in the north-eastern part of Italy.80% of production is in the Veneto region, 20% in Friuli Venezia Giulia, covering 5 provinces in Veneto (Treviso, Venice, Vicenza, Padua, Belluno) and 4 provinces in Friuli Venezia Giulia (Gorizia, Pordenone, Trieste and Udine).
Every year the popularity of sparkling wines under the Prosecco brand is growing; in 2016, over 3 million hectoliters of Prosecco DOC sparkling wine were produced. Demand gives rise not only to numerous counterfeits, but also to increased prices.
The total area of vineyards is 26,578 hectares.
The main variety is Glera(85%), it was once called Prosecco, but now this name is strictly prohibited.
Glera is a powerful and rustic grape variety that adds structure to the wine. For the remaining 15%, you can use Verdiso, Perera, Bianchetta, as well as Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Nero (vinified in white).
Verdiso increases the acidity and spiciness of the wine, perera is responsible for the aroma, and bianchetta ennobles the wine in cold years.
Typical aromas include white flowers, apple, pear, exotic fruits and citruses.
Three versions of Prosecco wines:
- quiet. Not a very popular and well-known version.- sparkling (spumante). The most popular and sought after version. Pressure not lower than 3 bar.
- fizzy (frizzante). The pressure in the bottle is 1-2.5 bar.
Type of Prosecco depending on sugar content
Prosecco, like all sparkling wines, varies in sugar content - from dry to sweet. But prosecco has its own characteristics, for example, there is no extra brut category (it is included in brut), and there are no sweet proseccos with a sugar content exceeding 50 g/l.There are 4 types of sparkling Prosecco based on sugar content:
Extra Brut – 0 - 6 g sugar per liter
Brut – 6 - 12 g sugar per liter
Extra Dry - 12-17 g sugar per liter
Dry – 17-32 g sugar per liter
Demisec 32-50 g sugar per liter
Prosecco from the Conegliano Valdobbiadene area is not allowed to produce Demi-sec wines.
Sparkling Prosecco (frizzante) is divided into two categories:
Secco (dry, actually semi-dry)
- amabile (semi-sweet)
Prosecco production
The first documents mentioning Prosecco wine date back to the 17th century. They describe a white and delicate wine from Trieste (there is a Prosecco village near Trieste). In subsequent centuries, the area of prosecco production expanded significantly, but the first great success came at the beginning of the 20th century, when autoclaves began to be used to produce sparkling wines.Federico Martinotti, director of the Experimental Institute of Oenology in Alba, invented the method of controlled secondary fermentation in large containers in 1895; in 1910, the method was improved by the Frenchman Charmat, who was the first to receive a patent and thus perpetuated his name in place of Martinotti.
Thanks to this method, wines from aromatic varieties are obtained with bright fruity aromas and at a lower cost than wines obtained using the classical method (secondary fermentation in the bottle).
The first person to experiment with sparkling wines in the Prosecco zone was Antonio Carpene (Carpene Malvolti estate), one of the founders of the oenological school in Conegliano. He adapted the method to produce Prosecco and produced a wine with the characteristics we know today.
Prosecco production:
After picking, the grapes are pressed using a soft press. Then decant and leave the wort to rest in the cold (5-10 °C) in stainless vats for 10-12 hours.
At the end of this operation, fermentation begins, which lasts 15-20 days in stainless steel containers at a temperature of 18-20 degrees. The result was a base wine. At this stage, wines from different grape varieties are assembled.
The base wine is placed in autoclaves - a hermetically sealed stainless steel container, and a batch liqueur consisting of yeast, sugar and base wine is added. Secondary fermentation begins.
This process usually takes 30-80 days.
After this, it is filtered and placed in a second autoclave with cooling walls, where the remaining yeast and tartaric acid precipitate. Then it is filtered again, bottled and released for sale.
Prosecco quality pyramid
The Prosecco wine area is the largest area in Italy and the fourth largest in Europe. Naturally, there is no need to talk about a general terroir.
The wine received the DOC category in 1969. Most of the vineyards are located on the plain, but there are also hilly areas. The climate is temperate, protected from the cold winds in the north by the Dolomite mountain range, in the south by the Adriatic Sea, from which the Sirocco wind blows, bringing sufficient rainfall, especially in the summer. By the end of summer, the number of hours of sunshine decreases, the dry boron wind begins to blow, the difference between night and day temperatures becomes significant, which has a good effect on the aromatic characteristics of the grapes at this stage of ripening.
The yield is very high; by law it should not exceed 215 centners per hectare.
The sparkling version (spumante) of Prosecco DOC can only be produced using the Charmat method. For the frizzante version, it is allowed to carry out secondary fermentation in a bottle or in an autoclave.
Colli Asolani Prosecco DOCG since 2011 it has been called Montello e Colli Asolani Prosecco.
Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG Produced near the city of Treviso, the vineyards are located on hills crossed by small rivers.
This is one of the most picturesque wine-growing areas of Italy, which some people call small mountains. Naturally, in such conditions only manual grape harvesting is possible.
The first mention of white wines in this area can be found in a document of the Venetian Republic, which dates back to 1282. We are, of course, not talking about prosecco. Francesco Maria Malvolti, a native of these places, writes about the cultivation of Glera in the hills of Conegliano Valdobiadene in 1772 in the newspaper Giornale d'Italia.
Now the prestigious zone occupies about 7 thousand hectares (total area 7,549 hectares, in production - 7,191 hectares), of which 251 hectares are dedicated to the production of the Rive version, 107 hectares - Cartizze. The planting density of vines is at least 2,500 per hectare. Maximum yield 13 tons per hectare.
Total production in 2015 was 90 million bottles, of which 93% were the sparkling version - Spumante DOCG.
In the Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene category, it is possible to produce sparkling wines using the Charmat method and the classic method with secondary fermentation in the bottle. The vast majority of manufacturers prefer the first method, but there are enthusiasts who produce limited quantities using the more prestigious and expensive champenois method. For example, Valdo, Le Vigne di Alice.
Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene comes in three versions: brut, extra dry and dry. The creation of a new version of Extra Brut is being discussed.
In the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG zone there are 3,243 winegrowers, 445 winemakers and 178 wineries.
The term “rive” means the banks of a river, or more precisely, the “tongues” of land located along the water course, which form areas with different microterroirs. There are a total of 43 river sites in Conegliano Valdobbiadene.
For Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene sparkling wines labeled Rive, the alcohol content must be at least 9.5%.
Comune Di Valdobbiadene
1 San Vito
2 Bigolino
3 San Giovanni
4 San Pietro di Barbosa
5 Santo Stefano
6 Guia
Comune di Vidor
7 Vidor
8 Colbertaldo
Comune Di Miane
9 Miane
10 Combai
11 Campea
12 Premaor
Comune di Farra di Soligo
13 Farra di Soligo
14 Col San Martino
15 Soligo
Community of Follina
16 Follina
17 Farro
Comune di Cison di Valmarino
18 Cison di Valmarino
19 Roll
Comune di Pieve di Soligo
20 Pieve di Soligo
21 Solighetto
Comune di Refrontolo
Comune di San Pietro di Feletto
23 San Pietro di Feletto
24 Rua di Feletto
25 Santa Maria di Feletto
26 San Michele di Feletto
27 Bagnolo
Community of Tarzo
28 Tarzo
29 Resera
30 Arfanta
31 Corbanese
Comune di Susegana
32 Susegana
33 Colfosco
34 Collalto
Comune di Vittorio Veneto
35 Formeniga
36 Cozzuolo
37 Carpesica
38 Manzana
Comune di Conegliano
39 Scomigo
40 Collalbrigo - Costa
41 Ogliano
Comune di San Vendemiano
42 San Vendemiano
Comune di Colle Umberto
43 Colle Umberto
At the top is the Kartizze hill ( Cartizze Valdobbiadene), the wine from which is considered the best of the sparkling Proseccos. It is distinguished by liveliness, light sweetness and pleasant bitterness. The vineyards occupy only 107 hectares, they descend in a natural amphitheater. Most of it belongs to the Valdo farm. Cartizze is considered the most prestigious cru of Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG.
Maximum yield 12 tons per hectare.
Right-click to enlarge the map.
Recently, a kind of competition has emerged between Prosecco Superiore DOCG and Prosecco DOC. The former accuse that the latter think exclusively about quantity; the Prosecco DOC consortium retorts that the consumer votes.
As of 2020, a new category of Prosecco spumante Rosé millesimato has appeared. In the pink version, it is allowed to add 10-15% pinot nero to the glera. The product will be niche, its share will be less than 5%.
The consortia of the two DOCG Prosecco Superiore (Conegliano Valdobbiadene and Asolo) did not join the project.
Numbers:
Area: 6,578 hectares
bottles: 72.4 million
export: 40%
Area: 20,000 hectares
bottles: 243.2 million
export: 65%
The largest estates of the Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG (Prosecco DOC) zone
Cantine Riunite
Carpene Malvolti
Ruggeri (~ 1 million bottles/year) - since 2017 owned by the German giant Rmsk
Mionetto - since 2008, part of the German group Henkell & co. Sektkellerei KG.
Villa Sandi (~ 4.5 million bottles/year)
Bisol
Col Vetoraz
Santa Margherita
Vinicola Serena
Bortolomiol
Il colle
Val d'Oca
Zardetto
Cantina Colli del Soligo
La Gioiosa
Valdo (~ 15 million bottles/year)
Prosecco producers:
MerottoBottega
Data
- Switzerland ranks first in imports of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG wines, accounting for 23%; followed by Germany - 22%, then Great Britain - 17%, USA - 9%, Austria - 5%, Benelux - 3%, Russia - 2%.Prosecco is the ideal and most famous aperitif.
Prosecco goes perfectly with fish dishes and appetizers, which can even include salted sprat with olive oil.
Prosecco wines are drunk young, within a year after harvest.
Prosecco wines are served at a temperature of 6-8 degrees.
The famous cocktail is made from Prosecco. Spritz, consisting of one third prosecco, two parts aperitif (eg Aperol) and one part mineral water, garnished with an orange slice on top.
Prosecco has long been recognized as “Italian champagne”, which last year overtook real French champagne in sales.
Prosecco news
✅ 10/08/2019In 2019, a number of changes were made to the production discipline:
Added version Extra Brut(0 - 6 g sugar per liter)
Typology Sui Lieviti provides for a second fermentation in bottles
43 rives became official geographical units that could be placed on a label.
We continue our “sparkling” series of articles for beginner wine lovers. Next up is the world's most popular Prosecco from Italy. It is no coincidence that this aperitif has become a regular at social parties and fashionable events: the freshness, cheerful carefreeness and fruity-floral aroma instantly captivate, and the play of bubbles and a slight bitterness in the aftertaste fascinate even more with each new sip.
First there were grapes
Italian sparkling Prosecco is made from the aromatic white variety Glera. The grape was once called the same as the wine - Prosecco, but in 2009 it was renamed Glera, and the former name of the variety was given to the production zone, which occupies a vast territory in two northern Italian regions - Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. From that moment on, the word Prosecco is only allowed to be used to refer to sparkling wines produced in the wine-growing area of the same name, and not everywhere in Italy, as was the case before.
The Glera variety typically produces sparkling wines with a fairly simple, but very pleasant fruit bouquet with hints of apple, apricot, white peach and rose. Unlike champagne, there are no notes of bread crust or pastry, since the production technology of Prosecco is fundamentally different.
Not champagne, but with bubbles
Sparkling Prosecco is produced using the Charmat method, which is more economical and faster than champagne technology. Its essence lies in the fact that secondary fermentation, during which bubbles appear, occurs not in bottles, but in huge tanks. Just a few days later, the fermentation process is interrupted by sudden cooling, and voila - sparkling wine is ready!
It is believed that high-speed technology was invented by the Italian Federico Martinotti, and finalized and successfully patented by the Frenchman Eugene Charmat. Today, the simplified method is usually called Sharma, less often - Martinotti-Sharma. By the way, this is the method used to make about 90% of all sparkling wines in Italy these days.
Main varieties
Prosecco can vary in degree of sparkling:
- spumante (sparkling);
- frizzante (fizzy, with less pronounced bubbles);
- tranquillo (quiet).
Most variants are of the first and second type, but occasionally silent versions with the same name can also be found in Italy.
As for the degree of sweetness, it can also vary, but the most common sparkling examples of Prosecco are most often dry (Brut, Extra Dry, Dry), and sparkling examples are sweet (Dolce, Amabile). Still wines, rare for the Prosecco zone, are found in both dry and sweet versions (Secco and Amabile).
Special categories
The relatively young appellation (wine-growing area) Prosecco DOC covers a vast territory of 20,000 hectares, which includes more prestigious parts: Prosecco di Treviso, Conegliano-Valdobbiadene (6,000 hectares) and Cartizze (107 hectares). The last two belong to the highest quality category according to the Italian classification - DOCG.
Sometimes you can also find the Rive label on the bottles, denoting single-vineyard Prosecco, which corresponds to the French concept of cru. For this category, manual harvesting of grapes is required, as well as indication on the label of the year of harvest and the name of the hill on which the vineyard grows.
The delicate play of bubbles in cru prosecco glasses is extremely reminiscent of the perlage of French champagne and other sparkling drinks created using classical technology. And this is not surprising: Rive samples can be aged on lees for a long time.
Aperol spritz everyone!
Perhaps Prosecco is the most common aperitif in Italy, and sparkling wine owes much of its popularity to the Aperol spritz cocktail, which began to be made in Venice and Verona, and then the fashion for it spread to all Italian bars. The cocktail is based on three ingredients: prosecco, Aperol orange liqueur and tonic. A glass with bright orange contents in itself already creates a sunny mood in any weather. And it is always decorated with a slice of orange or red grapefruit.
No. Prosecco is a dry sparkling wine produced in Italy from the Glera grape variety, known as Prosecco until 2009 (according to EU regulation No. 1166/2009, the variety is now called Glera, but the name “Prosecco” can only be used in relation to to wine). In addition to Glera, other grape varieties can be included in the wine (no more than 15%). The name comes from the Italian village of Prosecco near Trieste, where Glera grapes probably began to be grown.
This is, of course, interesting, but how does prosecco differ from champagne?
The simplest and most obvious answer: I make champagne in France, and prosecco in Italy. But there are other differences that true sparkling wine fans should know.
Champagne
Champagne is a sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France, 130 km northeast of Paris, near the city of Reims.
- For production, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes are used.
- Produced using a labor-intensive and expensive traditional technology known as "Méthode Champenoise", where secondary fermentation occurs directly in the bottles.
- Due to the complex production process, a bottle of entry-level champagne costs about $40.
A standard glass of champagne contains 128 calories and 12% alcohol.
Prosecco
Prosecco is a sparkling wine made in the Veneto region of Italy, 24 km north of Venice, near the city of Treviso.
- For production, Glera grapes are used.
- It is mainly produced by the accessible Charmat method, when secondary fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks, and then the finished drink is bottled.
- Thanks to the Charmat method, the price of entry-level prosecco is significantly lower than the price of champagne - around $12-14.
A standard glass of Prosecco contains 121 calories and 11% alcohol.
That’s clearer, thank you, but how do these differences affect the taste and aroma of wine?
Of course, due to differences in secondary fermentation technology, the flavor and aroma profile of both drinks is very different.
Flavor and aroma profile of champagne
Tasting notes.
Since champagne is in contact with the yeast sediment for longer (at least 12 months, after which the drink is subjected), its aroma clearly shows notes of cheese crust, more often toasted bread crust or biscuit. The wine is aged in bottles under high pressure, so the champagne bubbles are long lasting and “sharp”. The palate is dominated by citrus, white peach, white cherry, almond and toast.
Flavor profile of Prosecco
Tasting notes.
Prosecco has more pronounced fruity and floral aromas that come from the grapes. Due to aging in tanks with less pressure, Prosecco bubbles are “light” and foamy. A typical Prosecco has notes of green apple, pear, banana cream, honeysuckle, hazelnut, vanilla and honey.
Because Champagne is mostly dry and has high acidity, it pairs well as an aperitif with shellfish, raw oysters, pickled vegetables and crispy fried appetizers. Sipping champagne with potato chips may seem crazy, but it's a good combination (the chips must be unflavored, of course).
Gastronomic accompaniment.
Prosecco is sweeter than Champagne, so it pairs perfectly with fruit and cured meats. Traditional appetizers include melon wrapped in prosciutto. Asian dishes also go well with prosecco, in particular Chinese noodles, sushi and spicy-sweet salads. Brut versions of Prosecco often accompany pizza and pasta with seafood, acting as a digestif.
What about the classification? They say everything is complicated.
Yes, that is right. In France, the production of all regional wines is controlled by the AOC system (well, these are all those appellations and other tricky rules, because of which cognac and champagne can only be made in France, and the rest is brandy and sparkling wines). So, in Italy there is a system for this DOC(Denominazione di origine controllata). Prosecco DOC produced in nine provinces, including Veneto And Friuli Venezia Giulia regions. These are mainly young vineyards in the valley bed in Treviso.
But that's not all. In 2009, a consortium of Prosecco producers proposed raising the status of the drink to the so-called DOCG(Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita), which included the elite growing areas of Glera - a conditional region between the towns of Valdobbiadene in the west and Conegliano in the east. This is how it appeared Prosecco Superiore DOCG, which comes in two versions: actually, Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG, as well as less common wine Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG, which is made from grapes grown near the town of Asolo.
It’s complicated, but it’s enough to understand that Prosecco DOC is an ordinary sparkling wine that is produced in large quantities and not much care is taken about its high quality (for example, vineyards in Prosecco DOC “burn out” in 15 years due to the consumer approach). Another thing is Prosecco DOCG, the grapes for which are grown in the hills (the vineyards live for several decades), and the people who produce it care about the traditions and quality of the drink. But this is all lyrics. For us, a slightly different classification is more important. So, prosecco, depending on the saturation of carbon dioxide, is divided into:
- Spumante(sparkling wine)
- Frizzante(semi-sparkling wines)
- Tranquillo(still wines)
Prosecco Spumante is the most widespread and expensive, but Tranquillo is exotic (the production share is only 5%), and only a few producers export it. Also, Prosecco DOC and DOCG, in accordance with EU requirements, is divided according to sugar content into: “ Brut"(up to 12 grams per liter of residual sugars), " Extra Dry" (12–17 g/l) or " Dry"(17–32 g/l). All prosecco wines not protected by DOC are labeled “IGT-Veneto” - they are cheap, but you can’t beat the quality.
Okay, it's time to run to the store. Just first tell me how to drink prosecco correctly?
Like regular champagne and any other sparkling wine: chilled from flute(champagne glass, flute). In Italy, Prosecco is considered a wine for every occasion. Unlike champagne, the fermentation process in a bottle with prosecco does not continue and the wine simply ages, losing its light fruity undertones, so it should be drunk young, preferably no older than 2 years. Prosecco is also used to prepare numerous cocktails, among which the leader, of course, is Bellini (prosecco and peach puree, and if you replace the puree with strawberry, you get Rossini). In recent years, it has been gaining popularity, which has become truly iconic in Europe. In other cocktails, prosecco can replace champagne; for example, such a replacement is used everywhere to reduce the cost of a mixed drink.
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