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By Manos Angelakis
Fifth kilometers from Venice (approx. 30 miles) is a hilly countryside that produces one of Italy’s least known white wines, Prosecco. Prosecco the wine is named after the Prosecco grape varietal, and is a sparkling wine that comes in many styles - from bone dry to doux - and has either a little carbonation (known as frizzante) or with as much carbonation as champagne (known as spumante). The color also varies, from almost colorless to light straw or very light golden-yellow.
Last month, 27 Prosecco producers came from Italy bringing their product to New York City and had a trade and press presentation at Cipriani On 23rd Street. The location was very appropriate as Giuseppe Cipriani, the original proprietor of the famous Harry’s Bar in Venice, was the individual most responsible for the popularity of Prosecco when he developed the “Bellini”, Venice’s most famous drink, a mixture of white peach nectar and Prosecco.
The denizens of La Serenissima, as Venice is still known, drink more Prosecco than any other city in the world. They have it as an aperitivo, they have it as a night-cup, and they drink it on every occasion. Here in the US we drink approximately one million bottles of it a year, and that is only 8% of the total sales.
Because the wine is named after the grape variety, there are wines that come from other areas of Northern Italy, and call themselves Prosecco, but to be an authentic Prosecco, the wine has to come from the vineyards between the villages of Conegliano and Valdobbadiene, which is the D.O.C designated production area.
The wine is fruity with white flower aromas and should be drunk young, within a year maximum from production. This is not a wine to be cellared, its youth is its charm.
Stately villas, castles and medieval hamlets dot the Prosecco D.O.C countryside. The 15 communes between Conegliano and Valdobbadiene are linked by the Strada del Vino (wine road) which has been a popular tourist itinerary for almost 60 years. The route passes by the star-vineyard for Prosecco, Cartizze, a hill covered with vines that produce the best vintage, the very special Superiore di Cartizze, the “grand cru” of the Prosecco D.O.C.
11 of the producers presented Spumante di Cartizze Proseccos, and the ones that impressed me most were: the Bellenda Spumante Cartizze Dry, Bisol Desiderio Spumante Superiore di Cartizze, Spumanti Serre Spumante Gran Cuvée Extra Dry “Valgres” and Spumante Dry “Colsenta”, Le Colture Spumante Superiore di Cartizze, and Mionetto USA Spumante Cartizze. Spumanti Valdo had also “Cuvée Viviana” a Spumante Superiore di Cartizze.
The best of the Proseccos tasted were soft and frothy in the mouth with an active small bead, low on alcohol, and very aromatic, redolent of apples, pears, and peaches. The Brut had a lively acidity, while the Dry and Extra Dry retained between 12 and 20% of sugar for an even softer wine. No matter what the style, a Prosecco should be served at a temperature of 42° to 46° F.
© July 2006 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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