Sparkling wines can be made from nearly any grape type, and contain lots of bubbles to give them that fizziness. Prosecco is one of the most popular types of sparkling wines as it’s cheaper than champagne and it has a light, fruity flavour. It pairs beautifully with everything from finger foods to indulgent desserts, but it is also a mixer in many of Italy’s most iconic cocktails (Bellini is one of them).
In 1754, the spelling Prosecco appears for the first time in the book Il Roccolo Ditirambo, written by Aureliano Acanti in Novoledo, in the municipality of Villaverla located in the Province of Vicenza. The wine was then known by the local Slovene-speaking population as Prosegker or Prosekar and was grown on the Adriatic coast near the villages of Contovello, Prosecco, Santa Croce and the former Roman villa town Barcola.
If in the Valdobbiadene area, you can’t miss paying a visit to the “Osteria senz’Oste” – literally “the restaurant without hosts”. The special thing about this place is that you can serve yourself some traditional food from the area and of course, some delicious Prosecco, a great variety of cold cuts, cheeses and bread. Nobody will come to take your order, you will only need to leave your money in a jar when done eating. The host remains nowhere to be seen. Intriguing, isn’t it?
Prosecco it’s produced only in certain areas of Italy, between Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions, is named after the village of Prosecco and made from the Glera grape. In 2009 the Ministry of Italian Agriculture classified prosecco as a Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin (D.O.C.G.), the highest level of quality for Italian wines.
Here are some interesting facts about this delicious sparkling wine:
It’s more popular than champagne
Prosecco is becoming more popular than champagne and it has a lot of Festival connected to it, to celebrate the taste and sophisticated aroma of this fabulous fizzy wine. You can also find a lot of merchandise online that uses Prosecco as the star of t-shirts, socks and many more fun things.
It has fewer calories than wine
If you’re watching your calories, this wine could be the perfect match for you. A glass of red wine has 125 calories while most sparkling drinks only have 90! Amazing, isn’t it?
The cork can reach 25 MPH speed
When opening a bottle of Prosecco, the cork could be very fast, up to 25MPh per hour! So mind who’s around you before opening one bottle…
The best Prosecco is not found in the town of Prosecco
The small town called Prosecco located in the northeast of Italy was just the birthplace of this now-famous sparkling wine. But to find the best quality Prosecco it’s better to travel a few miles away, closer to Venice it’s the best place to find the finest quality for this wine. 60 per cent of all Prosecco, in fact, is made in the Conegliano and Valdobbiadene areas. The vineyards here are surrounded by the Alps, giving the grapes the ideal place to grow.
Not all Proseccos are sparkling
Even though the iconic Proseccos are sparkling, they can also be made as semi-sparkling and still wine. However, outside of Italy, it is unusual to find the still wine products.
