When it comes to bubbly, I love a nice Prosecco. It’s Italy’s answer to Champagne. The difference? Well, both are sparkling wines from Europe that lean towards being drier than sweeter. Both have to be produced in very specific places and using very specific methods.
Champagne is sparkling wine made primarily from only three grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier) in the Champagne region of France. If it’s 20 feet over the region’s border, it’s sparkling wine. Even when a winemaker from Champagne moves down the road and makes his wine using the same grapes and same methods, they cannot be called Champagnes because they are not made within the designated borders. This doesn’t make them inferior, they’re just not Champagnes.
Prosecco is sparkling wine made with one grape – Prosecco – in the Prosecco D.O.C. (region) of Italy. The same regional rules that apply to Champagne above apply to Prosecco as well.
If you’re not a patient person or just not into yeast, the big difference is that part of the Prosecco fermentation process doesn’t occur in the bottle like it does with Champagne, making Prosecco not only less yeasty, but also ready to drink young – whereas Champagnes are even better if you lay them down for a few years.
Another big difference is price – you won’t see many Champagnes on this site and there’s a reason for that. You’ll see lots of Proseccos though!
This 100% Prosecco from Candoni – who has been making wine for 150 years – is a non-vintage (they blend wine from different vintages together to get a more consistent flavor) made using the Charmat Method – a double fermentation where the second one occurs in large stainless steel pressurized tanks. The wine is then bottled under pressure leaving no yeast, just a nice fruity, refreshing, and clean sparkler.
Yellow gold in the glass, a sniff reveals some juicy pear while a sip is like biting into some ripe melon or an apple dipped in a little honey. This thing hits your mouth crisp, clean and refreshing and finishes with a dry fruit, well-balanced taste. I said dry – not sweet. Great with sushi.
With the NV Candoni Prosecco DOC, check out the bottle – each one is a unique piece of art! It’s a serigraph reproduction of an Etruscan fresco painting. I know, I had to Wiki it too – Etruscans are an ancient Italian civilization, and serigraphy is using woven silk screens to apply permanent color to something. Here ceramic colors are applied to the surface of the wine bottle, which is then heat-treated making the color permanent. You can feel the weaves!
