By Ray Spaziani
Wine Talk
Ray Spaziani
One of the most wonderful ways to enjoy the coming holidays is with a bottle of sparkling wine. Given the price of French Champagnes, Americans have been searching for an alternative sparkling wine.
One that has become very popular recently is a wine called Prosecco. This is an Italian sparkling wine that has been around for many years. Its popularity has just started to increase in the US.
The first known mention of the name Prosecco visiting was attributed to the Englishman Fryes Moyon in the north of Italy in 1593. It was developed in the northern Italian areas of Valdobbiadene and Asolo. Although this wine was very popular on a local basis, it had not been exported to the US until around 2000. The Italians used the wine and drank it themselves for many years.
This wine is a bubbly sparkling type of wine that lends itself very well to holiday dinners and family events. It is very easy to drink, and goes down well. Prosecco is a relatively inexpensive wine that generally runs between $15 and $35. There is even one that is sold by Costco in Milford for about $8 that will surprise you with its quality.
It is popular in many bars to take Prosecco and mix it will different fruit juices or other liquors to make an interesting drink.
Unlike Champagne and Franciacorta DOCG, Prosecco is usually produced using the Charmat method. In this method, the secondary fermentation takes place in large stainless steel tanks rather than in each individual bottle. This makes the wine much less expensive, and it cuts the production time to 30 days. There are some producers that make the wine using the traditional method, however.
Prosecco began to be imported into the US in the year 2000. It has grown quite markedly, with imports doubling by 2008 and then doubling again by 2016. It is made from the Glera grape and Valdobbiadene is a demarcated region. So try some Prosecco. You will be glad you did.
Ray Spaziani is the former chapter director for 25 years of the New Haven Chapter of the American Wine Society. He is a certified wine educator who worked for the American Wine Society, Amete de Vino and Winemaker Magazine judging wines and conducting wine judging. He is an award-winning home winemaker and has written wine articles for newspapers and magazines for the past 20 years. Spaziani teaches wine classes for the Milford Board of Education at Citrus Restaurant in Milford. Email Ray with wine questions and anything wine at realestatepro1000@gmail.com.