No one loves Champagne more than I do; I absolutely adore the stuff but not the price tag. The cost of Champagne makes it a wine almost exclusively for special occasions, not everyday drinking. What are lovers of bubbles to do? The answer is Prosecco, Italy’s charming and affordable sparkling wine. First let’s learn a little about this wine.
The word Prosecco refers to the white wine grape that’s grown in the eastern part of Veneto. This grape can be used to make still white wines but is most famous for making lively, crisp and fruity sparkling wines. Sometimes a little Pinot Blanco or Pinot Grigio is added to the Prosecco wines. These sparkling wines can be sweet or dry and be only slightly sparkling, we refer to these wines as “Frizzante”; or fully sparkling wines that are called “Spumante”. Unlike Champagne that undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle, Prosecco sparkling wines are made using the Charmat method where the second termination is in pressurized stainless steel tanks. This process is quicker and less costly than the Champagne method and in Veneto results in wines that are delightfully fresh and best enjoyed young. In general, the best Prosecco wines come from the DOC named Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene. If you see the words Canegliano or Valdobbiandene on the label of a bottle of Prosecco you are probably in good shape. Here are three excellent reasons why you should make Prosecco part of your wine life.
Quality
Old wine guys like myself can remember a time more than two decades ago when there were numerous sweet and semi sweet Proseccos that were pretty awful. Well times have certainly have changed. Today there’s much more dry style Proseccos and over the past few decades the improvement in quality has been astounding. I have the privilege of being a judge and tasting wines at many of the world’s major wine exhibitions including Vinitaly in Italy, Fenavin in Spain and Vinexpo in France. Never before have I tasted so many delicious Prosecco wines that range from easy-drinking and charmingly light wines to more serious, weighty and complex wines. My fellow judges and I all agree that Prosecco wines are getting better and better.
Versatility
The lightly colored Prosecco sparkling wines offer generous apple and citrus flavors and have lively small bubbles. The crisp and clean character of these wines makes them perfect as an aperitif and also very nice with a variety of foods. While Proseccos undoubtedly match well with many Italian dishes, my particular passion is pairing these bubbling beauties with Chinese cuisine. The unpretentious and open character of these wines make them lovely companions to popular Cantonese dim sum treats like Deep-fried Shrimp in Beancurd Skin as well as Shanghai appetizer Stewed Baby Carp with Scallions. In fact, we’ve only just started to discover how beautifully suited Prosecco wines are with Chinese cuisine. I invite you to join this delicious endeavor and savor a bottle of Prosecco with your next Chinese meal. I prefer my Prosecco in its glorious purity, but I do have many friends who enjoy mixing Prosecco with fruit juices for a refined summer refresher. One example of this is the famous Venetian cocktail Bellini that’s a combination of Prosecco and peach juice.
Value
In Shanghai, a good bottle of Prosecco is still a fraction of the cost of a bottle of Champagne. The price/quality ratio of Prosecco also compares favorably with most good quality European and New World still white wines. Some of the Prosecco sparkling wines available in Shanghai that I recommend are Tenuta S. Anna Prosecco Spumante Sparkling, Tenuta S. Anna Cuvee Rose Sparkling, Villa Pasini Prosecco Spumante and Zonin Prosecco Special Cuvee. All these fine wines are sure to bring you delicious bubbly happiness at reasonable prices.
WEEKLY HELPFUL HINT ~ How to enjoy Prosecco
A generous Champagne flute is perfect for Prosecco but if that’s not available a tall Sauvignon Blanc style white wine glass is also fine; Prosecco should always be served chilled, ideally about 8 C and if you enjoy the bottle slowly put some kind of stopper or cork in the bottle to preserve the bubbles.
