Prosecco – the bare facts

  • A high-quality Italian wine
  • Generally dry and mainly either fully sparkling (spumante) or lightly sparkling (frizzante, gentile)
  • Generally lower in alcohol than most wines: about 11 to 12 percent by volume
  • Unlike Champagne, it’s appreciated for its fresh, light, simple taste and complex aromas
  • Flavour is intensely aromatic and crisp, with hints of yellow apple, pear, white peach and apricot
  • Great as a mix for cocktails
  • The main ingredient in the Bellini cocktail and Spritz cocktail, commonly in a Mimosa, and the Italian cocktail, Sgroppino
  • A less expensive, quality substitute for Champagne
  • Mass world-wide increase in popularity since the late 90’s
  • In Italy, Prosecco is enjoyed as a wine for every occasion. Outside Italy, it is most often drunk as an aperitif, much like Champagne.
  • Produced from the Glera grapes in theProsecco – the bare factsregions in Italy, and traditionally in the hills north of Treviso
  • Is now produced in other countries, such as Brazil, Romania, Argentina and Australia
  • To guard against cheap imitations, an association of traditional Prosecco growers instituted a protected designation of origin status for Northern Italian Prosecco under European law
  • Tastes different to Champagne due to the fact that secondary fermentation takes place in tanks (spumante varient), as opposed to in the bottle
  • Approx. 150 million bottles are produced annually
  • Production amounts to hundreds of millions of Euros annually
  • According to the EU Sweetness of wine Regulations, Proseccos are labeled “Brut” (most dry), “Extra Dry” (medium dry) or “Dry” (most sweet).
  • Unlike Champagne, it grows stale in the bottle over time
  • Should be drunk as young as possible, generally within 3 years of vintage
  • Top-quality Prosecco can be aged for up to seven years

Read more about Prosecco:

Heavy on flavour, light on the pocket book

 

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