Simplifying our favourite sparkler

As a wine drinker, you will no doubt be aware that Prosecco has proved to be an increasingly popular sparkling wine for the previous 6 or 7 summers. In fact, it has outsold even still white wines for the last couple of summers. Once again, summer 2016 has seen an enormous demand for this light, refreshing sparkling wine and at Premier Estates Wine sales are once more through the roof for our particular brand of triple award winning Prosecco.

As we have touched upon in previous articles, consumer surveys have revealed that Prosecco is so popular because it appeals to more wine drinkers than Champagne or other sparkling wines due to its light, fruity aromas and flavours and its tendency towards the sweeter end of the scale rather than dryness of Champagne which tends to have a less subtle flavour and texture.

Its increasing popularity has led to many different wine makers making a myriad of different variations of Prosecco. So, if you’re new to the Prosecco experience, how on earth do you choose one which would be more to your taste?

The aim of this article is to take a look at a few of the more common Prosecco variants, to see if we can’t shed a little light on the terminology.

What is Prosecco?

There is a common misconception that Prosecco is specifically a type of sparkling wine and the term “Prosecco” has started to be used in reference to just about any type of sparkling wine that isn’t champagne. Prosecco can actually be a still wine (tranquillo), lightly sparkling (frizzante) or a little more vivacious (spumante). Prosecco actually describes a wine that is made using specifically Glera grapes or at least Glera grapes in the majority (at least 85%). Some varieties blend a small amount of other grape types with the Glera grapes to produce flavour and aroma variations. Prosecco is named after an Italian village near Trieste in North Eastern Italy where the Glera grape is thought to have originated.

Prosecco DOC

This variety of Prosecco is perhaps the most famous and most popular. Premier Estates Wine’s Prosecco fits into this category. The “DOC” stands for Denominazione di origine controllata which is effectively an Italian quality assurance mark for wines.

Prosecco Superiore DOCG

Prosecco bearing this mark can only be made in the Treviso province of Veneto in the vineyard hills between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. Due to the steep inclines of these hillside vineyards, planting, pruning and picking are typically done by hand, which Proseccos labelled as DOCG tend to proudly proclaim.

Prosecco Superiore di Cartizze

Vineyards producing this type of Prosecco are over 1000 feet above sea level on the hillside of Cartizze. Comparatively little of this Prosecco type is produced and it is widely considered to be of the highest quality. So the story goes, in the past the Glera grapes from these vineyards were harvested last as they were so difficult to get to being high up on steep slopes. The longer ripening period that these grapes were allowed is said to have improved the quality of wine made from them.

In truth, the quality of modern Prosecco comes from the experience of the winemakers and the refinement of the production process. Premier Estates Wine’s talented wine production team have fine-tuned our Prosecco recipe to a truly startling degree. But you don’t just have to take our word for it. Our Prosecco has won awards at both the prestigious International Wine and Spirits Competition and The International Wine Challenge. These competitions are judged after a blind tasting session by some of the world’s most renowned and knowledgeable wine experts. Grab yourself a case of Prosecco from our online shop today and discover why Prosecco has made such a meteoric rise to the top of the wine sales charts.