Prosecco Review

2016 is following hard on 2015’s heels.  I’ve got ambivalent attitude to that. On one hand, I anticipate events to happen next year and, on the other hand, I am a bit sad to say goodbye to all happy moments of 2015.

Our family has a nice tradition to sit together with family album in front of the fire-place to refresh our memories about victories and fails of the passing year. We think about friends and relatives living abroad as well. Andrew is among them. He left Great Britain for America where he found his future wife Maggie via this dating site uk.cupid.com. He is a whale of Italian sparkling wine Prosecco. We bought a bottle of this fizz to be sent to the USA with our best wishes of happy holidays.

I thought why not to dedicate my post to this wonderful sparkling wine in honor of our favored friend?  It deserves a closer look all the more so because, as New Year party is around the corner. A bubbler is a necessary attribute of any celebration, so choosing the right sparkling wine is half the battle.

Before becoming a fizz, Prosecco was Glera grapes growing on the hills located in Conegliano Valdobbiadene zone that is in Treviso province of Veneto Region. From ancient time this territory was famous for wine-making. In 1969 Prosecco produced in 15 communes of this area was granted the status D.O.C (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) and then upgraded to D.O.C.G in 2009.  I guess you paid attention to these abbreviations on Prosecco bottles. D.O.C.G. means the highest classification of wines.  It implies that a sparkling wine was produced under strict rules. Grape varieties, production method, yield limits and so on.  So, the quality of Prosecco is not in doubt and guaranteed by the government seal across the neck.

Let’s go on learning the flamboyant Italian language. On the bottle you’ll probably see such words as ‘spumante’, ‘frizzante’ and ‘tranquillo’. They are aimed to indicate the effervescing level. Spumante is sparkling, frizzante is semi-sparkling, and tranquillo is still wine without any bubbles at all. Choose Dry if you need the sweetest Prosecco and ‘Brut’ if you want the driest one.

 

I guess this terminology will be enough to pick the Prosecco meeting all your demand and preferences. Now it is time to think of how to serve it and what foods to pair. Here everything is simple. Put a bottle in the fridge before a dinner. The ideal temperature should be between 6° and 8°C if to be precise. Prosecco earned international fame as an aperitif, but also can be drunk throughout the meal and together with dessert. Generally speaking, Prosecco is not demanding in food pairing. I like it to combine with proscuitto.

 

Choose tulip-shaped glasses to drink Prosecco according to all rules. Though, to my mind, this Italian fizz’s delicious taste and aroma is hard to spoil and no other glass shape can not hamper your to enjoy it!