Prosecco is Italy’s most popular sparkling wine. While it’s often compared to Champagne, it’s made with different grapes and a different winemaking method. As you’ll soon discover, there’s more to Prosecco than affordable bubbles.
“There’s more to Prosecco than affordable bubbles”
Learn more about this fascinating sparkler including how to choose Prosecco, the different styles, the main winemaking region, Valdobbiadene, and what foods to pair with it.
What is Prosecco
Technically speaking, Prosecco is a sparkling wine that originates from the Valdobbiadene region in Veneto, Italy (although it’s also made in other parts of Italy including Friuli-Venezia Giulia). The wine is made with Prosecco grapes (aka Glera) and made into wine with the Charmat sparkling method, which gives wines about 3 atmospheres of pressure. This means Prosecco’s bubbles typically last longer than beer (with about 1.5 atmospheres of pressure) and not usually as long as Champagne (with about 5- of pr6 atmospheres of pressure).
Prosecco Taste Is it sweet or dry?
Most Prosecco wines are produced in a dry, brut style. However, due to the grapes fruity flavors of green apple, honeydew melon, pear and honeysuckle, it usually seems sweeter than it is. Even though brut is the most popular sweetness level of Prosecco sold in the market, you can find styles that are sweeter if you seek them out. Here is how Prosecco is labeled for sweetness:
Brut
0–12 g/L RS (residual sugar) – Up to a half gram of sugar per glass
Extra Dry
12–17 g/L RS – Just over a half gram of sugar per glass
Dry
17–32 g/L RS – Up to 1 gram of sugar per glass
By the way, if you haven’t had an Extra Dry Prosecco yet, this style seems extra well-suited to this wine offering a great balance between fruit, tingly acidity and subtle sweetness.
How to Serve Prosecco
Prosecco should be served cold (38–45 °F / 3–7 °C) and the most will agree that the best glass to serve Prosecco in sparkling tulip glass. The tulip glass is ideal because it’s tall and slender, which helps preserves the bubble finesse for longer, but the larger bulb at the top helps collect more of the wine’s floral aromas.
The Perfect Mimosa Wine
By the way, if you love a traditional brunch, Prosecco is our favorite pick for a perfect mimosa. The fruitiness in this wine amplifies the citrus flavors and it bodes well with brunchy foods. By the way, a great mimosa is 2 parts sparkling wine to 1 part juice.
Prosecco Food Pairing
Try Prosecco with Southeast Asian foods like Thai, Vietnamese, and Hong Kong style dishes. By Charles Haynes
Prosecco is surprisingly versatile with a wide range of cuisine genres and dishes. It’s one of those wines that can be served as an aperitif (before food) but also works well with the main entrée. The ideology to pairing Prosecco is to use it as a palate cleanser alongside medium-intensity foods (chicken, tofu, shrimp, pork dishes). Because of its sweet aromatics and bubbles, Prosecco makes a great match with spicy curries and Southeast Asian fare; Thai, Vietnamese, Hong Kong and Singaporean foods are awesome with Prosecco.
Tips On Finding High Quality Prosecco
There are different quality levels of Prosecco, and some don’t even use the Prosecco name on their label.
Prosecco DOC
The most common quality level of Prosecco which can be made in nine provinces spanning Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions.
Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG
Grapes are blended from smaller, more focused growing area between Valdobbiadene and Conegliano in the hills. These hills are known to produce some of the most concentrated Prosecco wines.
Colli Asolani DOCG
Across the river from Conegliano-Valdobbiadene region you can find another smaller hillside region producing excellent wines with the high quality standards. Wines are labeled Colli Asolani on the bottle.
Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive DOCG
Wines made from specific communes or vineyards within Conegliano-Valdobbiadene. There are 43 communes that can be labeled as such.
Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG
A micro region of just 265 acres just outside of Valdobbiadene (towards the West side) that’s commonly considered to be one of the finest terroirs for Prosecco in the world.
Where Prosecco is Made
The best vineyards are located in the hills around Asolani and Valdobbiadene. by Elena Zamprogno
The Conegliano-Valdobbiandene region is a stunningly beautiful set of green hills covered with vineyards. It rains quite a lot here, and because of this, the best vineyards are generally found on southern facing slopes with good drainage and gentle winds that dry the grapes out after their daily shower. Prosecco has been made in this area for around 300 years (although earlier styles were likely less bubbly).
Despite Today, one of the highlight of the region is a fun-and-challenging cycling race called the Gran Fondo Prosecco which weaves up through the hills. Anyone can participate, and you can celebrate your wins with a fine glass of the region’s wine.
***Grabbed from: http://winefolly.com/review/the-prosecco-wine-guide/