Beyond the Bubbles: Getting to Know Prosecco
Walking the covered porticoes and lively piazzas of Italy at aperitivo hour, you’ll witness the exuberant beauty of Italian Prosecco pulled from chilled ice buckets filling glass after glass at every bar and café - every day of the week. Friends and co-workers greet after work with a double-kiss and a “cin-cin” toast to the evening and each other.
Nothing captures the Italian lifestyle like an aromatic refreshing Prosecco for celebrating the everyday “Dolce Vita” or pairing with antipasti and plates of pasta. And nothing has captured the the world’s wine drinking fascination, quite like this delicious sparkler from the cool rolling green hills of north-east Italy, just an hour’s drive north of Venice.
The Popularity of Prosecco
Glera grapes on the vine in the Col del Balt vineyards in Valdobbiadene.
Enormously popular worldwide, demand for the wine continues to climb, with annual production at about 500 million bottles, it shows no signs of slowing. Even under global shutdowns of 2020, the Prosecco category continued to grow by 4%.
What accounts for our love of Prosecco? How can it play the role of delicious easy sipper and also step up with more structured bottlings that deliver depth of fruit and elegance - bottles you seek out for more elevated occasions?
The answers lay in what differentiates Prosecco from other wines - the unique grape, the land where it’s grown, and the method for capturing those creamy bubbles that preserves flavor and acidity.
Prosecco vs Champagne: The Grapes, the Method
Prosecco is often compared to that other world-famed sparkler, Champagne. But the grapes and winemaking method are very different.
Unlike Champagne’s trio of French grapes, Prosecco requires 85% of the indigenous, high acid semi-aromatic Glera grape (formerly known as Prosecco). Additional grapes are allowed, including the local Perera, Bianchetta and Verdiso, but many quality producers opt for using 100%. The grape produces light wines with aromas of white peaches, white flowers, a soft mouthfeel, and low alcohol. When grown on south-facing slopes to low yields the wines can develop a true depth of character. On flat plains, the flavors lean more neutral.
For producing those bubbles, Prosecco’s secondary fermentation occurs in pressurized tanks, using the Martinotti method (aka Charmat as we talked about in our article on how to make sparkling wine) with minimal lees contact and bottled early to maintain a fresh profile. Champagne’s “in the bottle” method with extended lees aging, instead produces wines with more bready, yeasty, somewhat oxidative aromatics.
Prosecco’s slow fermentation at low temperature promotes fine and persistent bubbles, further enhancing the fresh fruit and floral character. The resulting wines are perfumed with crisp yet balanced acidity, have soft yet lively bubbles and carry notes of honeysuckle, white peach, apple and pear.
Is Prosecco a grape, a region, or a wine?
Map of North-Eastern Italy and the Valdobbiadene area (Image courtesy of Wine Compass).
The name Prosecco was first mentioned in 1500s referencing a grape (and wine) named after a small town near Trieste Italy (near the Slovenian border). Over the centuries, the Prosecco grape migrated west and began flourishing in the Valdobbiadene (VAL-doh-bee-AH-duh-nay) area of the northern Veneto. The wines made here gained renown in the 19th century, and their popularity exploded in the 20th – so much so that the name “Prosecco” was showing up on bottles worldwide (even in Brazil!) but with questionable quality, no relation to the style of wines born of this region, and at a price that far under-cut the true local wines.
To protect the identity and character of the traditional Prosecco wine of north-east Italy, in 2009 producers officially changed the grape name to “Glera,”* (knowing that grape names can’t be geographically delimited) then petitioned the EU to declare “Prosecco” the protected name of the region for producing Glera-based sparkling wine. Their petition was approved and the Prosecco DOC (Denomination di Origine Controllata) appellation was established. “Glera,” is the ancient Latin name for the grape, and was the name long-used by the neighboring Friuli region.
In short, as of 2009 (very recent history!) any producer outside of the Prosecco DOC appellation boundaries making a wine from the Glera grape is prohibited from using the word “Prosecco” anywhere on the label (they are free to use the not-so-beautiful word Glera though!). The production area of Prosecco DOC spans nine provinces within two regions: the Veneto and the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia and today, nearly 30,000 hectares (70,000 acres) .
The Heart of ‘Prosecco Land’ – Valdobbiadene
Though Prosecco DOC spans two regions, much of the wine, and those with the most distinctive character, are still sourced from the smaller original production area - in the province of Treviso, and in the hilly northern portion around the towns of Valdobbiadene and Conegliano (koh-nell-YAH-no) at the base of the Belluno Prealps. The vineyards blanketing the beautiful rolling hills are dotted with towers, castles, and picturesque walled towns. Sparkling wines have been made here for more than 150 years and it is one of Italy’s most important quality regions for sparkling wines.
Views of the Valdobbiadene hills from Col del Balt.
The hills running west-east from Valdobbiadene to Conegliano create a series of ridges with southern-exposed slopes. With frequent showers taking turns with sunshine, you’ll see most vines on these south-facing slopes to maximize sunlight to grapes planted at 1,600 ft. Hand-harvesting is the norm and the steepest slopes (often the oldest vineyards) can reach 70% grade!
The soils are varied, formed by ancient lake and sea beds, or carved by glaciers from the Dolomites. They are deep, primarily composed of sandstone, marl, and clay with some of those glacial moraine deposits. Each combination of soil, slope and exposure creates unique micro-zones for the vine, and distinct wines for discovery. Growers and producers naturally follow sustainable farming practices and rely on native yeasts in the winery.
The natural beauty and rich heritage of this region’s landscape hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2019, the steep hills, patchwork vineyards, and wines produced from them were officially recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an award that not only reveres but protects and preserves the region’s beauty and hand-crafted winemaking heritage.
Holding DOC status since 1969, Conegliano-Valdobbiadene was promoted to DOCG in 2009, the same year the larger multi-region production zone earned the DOC. The appellation includes 15 communes and approximately 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres).
Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG is the formal appellation name, but plenty of variations are allowed on labels - simply Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore for example, while interestingly, the words Superiore and even Prosecco are optional.
Variety is the Spice: Types and Styles
The most popular Prosecco and over 90% of imports into the US are made in the fully sparkling (spumante) style, but semi-sparkling style (frizzante), and to a much lesser degree, still wine (tranquillo) is also permitted and produced in small quantities.
A small quantity of wine is still being produced (or produced once again) in the Ancestral Method. Rather than sparkling bubbles created in a tank, a light fizz is developed when the lees are capped inside the bottle – producing a distinctive frizzante wine known locally as “Prosecco Col Fondo” (Prosecco with their lees deposits). You may recognize this as the Italian term for the “Pet Nat” style. Expect Col Fondo wines to be snappy dry (no dosage added) with possible minerality and carrying more complexity of aromas including herbs or yeasty bread and flavors of tart apples and citrus.
Is Prosecco Sweet?
Today more and more Proseccos are being produced in the dry Brut style, an evolution from the also popular and more traditional (slightly sweeter) Extra Dry style. An even sweeter style (Dry) is made, but most stay in the Italian market. As of 2019, the DOC and DOCG approved an even drier style - Extra Brut, but these are still rare, more commonly found in single vineyard bottlings.
So why does my Brut Prosecco sometimes taste sweet? The natural juicy fruit character of Glera grape, balances with the grape’s natural zingy acidity. Enjoy the Brut style with fish dishes, shellfish, salads and salty-savory first courses. The Extra Dry turns up Glera’s fruit which perfectly plays off appetizers with its touch of sweetness (think Prosciutto di San Daniele, melon and mozzarella).
Serving Prosecco
To enjoy Prosecco at its best, pour into a tulip glass (rather than a narrow flute) and serve well chilled at 40 - 45℉ (your refrigerator is at about 40). The tulip’s bowl allows aromas to bloom, while the narrow mouth retains the bubbles. Feeling spontaneous? Place the bottle in a bucket filled with ice and water. It will quickly chill, and you’ll have easy access to re-pours at just the right temperature.
High Quality Prosecco – Seeking the Difference
Col del Balt brothers, Carlo and Fabio.
Wine enthusiasts know that the most interesting and distinguished wines from any region are planted on slopes in cooler regions – the recipe for concentrating flavor in the berries and preserving acidity. To experience added structure and depth, minerality and elegance, richness or perfume, look for the name Valdobbiadene somewhere on label, or consult a wine map to help you recognize names of vineyards and villages nearby.
If you aren’t planning a trip to the region soon, explore it through tastings. Look for distinctive features in various hills and sub-zones to discover their differences and what you like about them. But most importantly, get to know the producers, their land, and what makes their individual wines unique.
The best tip - Find a wine shop or an importer whose taste and discernment you trust, such as us, Vero :) and let them do that legwork for you. Let their discovery become yours. They are excited to share them with you.
Col del Balt | Sanzovo
Let’s meet one of Vero’s Prosecco discoveries. The artisanal producers of Col del Balt wines (formerly known as Sanzovo) is led by brothers Fabio and Carlo Sanzovo, natives of Valdobbiadene. After learning from their grandfather and father, this third generation of wine producers is now at the helm, crafting elegant Proseccos from grapes grown on the family’s “Col del Balt” (Balt Hill) vineyard.
Respecting the land of Valdobbiadene and the Glera grape, the brothers prize natural, traditional winemaking philosophies using modern methods and techniques.
They produce a traditional Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG and an intriguing Col Fondo, called Codolà, among other styles. Tasting the bubbly wines from Col del Balt, you’ll immediately sense the vivacity of the Valdobbiadene hills and the passion of brothers Carlo and Fabio.
We were live with the Sanzovo brothers, Fabio and Carlo, at their estate winery Col del Balt in Valdobbiadene for a virtual tasting and educational experience. Watch the interview and tasting on Facebook. This article’s author, Mary Beth Vierra, certified wine educator, will guide us through a deep dive into Prosecco. Watch the video and buy our Prosecco Explorer’s Set: shipping is included and you’ll get a free professional sparkling wine stopper. What a deal for only $59.99!
This article is written by Mary Beth Vierra, founder of Crush Course. She’s a Certified Wine Educator and Italian Wine Scholar.
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