Where Is Prosecco Produced?
Where Is Prosecco Produced?
The Prosecco DOC covers 35,000 acres in the northern Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, which borders Slovenia. This DOC zone includes major Italian cities, like Venice, Padova, Verona, Treviso, and Trieste along with the surrounding plains and countryside.
- About half of the Prosecco DOC lies in the classic production zone, which is based around the neighboring hillside towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene near Treviso. Wines made here can be part of the Prosecco Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG.
- Prosecco Asolo Superiore DOCG is a smaller appellation near the town of Asolo. For this and the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG, the grapes must be grown on hillsides, which increases ripeness. Harvesting machinery cannot operate on the hilly terrain, so grapes for these wines are hand-picked, increasing the quality of the final wine.
- The best prosecco comes from the subzone of Cartizze, a hill in Valdobbiadene. A bottle of prosecco from Cartizze will be labeled Superiore di Cartizze rather than the name of the DOCG, and they are considerably more expensive than other prosecco.
What Is the History Of Prosecco?
What Is the History Of Prosecco?
Prosecco gets its name from the village of Prosecco in Friuli in northeastern Italy. Wine from the area has been called “prosecco”or some variation for at least 400 years. Early proseccos were ancestral method sparkling wines that were sweet and low in alcohol, similar to Asti, another popular sparkling Italian wine.
The Charmat method, invented around the turn of the twentieth century, allowed prosecco producers to make more consistent sparkling wine on a larger scale than before. As the technology was adopted, prosecco production went up and quality improved dramatically.
Glera, the main grape used to make prosecco, was called “prosecco” until 2009, when it was renamed as part of the creation of the Prosecco DOC. The DOC area was significantly larger than the classic production zone for the wines, and critics were worried that quality would suffer. For this reason, some areas in the classic production zone were elevated to DOCG status. International prosecco consumption has grown rapidly since the introduction of the Prosecco DOC, making it one of the wine world’s biggest success stories.
What is Prosecco
What Is Prosecco?
Prosecco is a white Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) or Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wine made in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is made from glera grapes, with 15% other varieties allowed. Most prosecco is sparkling (spumante) or semi-sparkling (frizzante), though rare still (uncarbonated) examples are made. The Prosecco DOC area is Italy’s largest appellation.
What Is the Difference Between Prosecco and Champagne?
Prosecco and Champagne are both bubbly with refreshing high acidity. Like Champagne, which can only come from the Champagne region of France, the name prosecco is protected by European law for wines made in the authorized production zone of the Prosecco DOC.
- Production method: Most prosecco is carbonated using the Charmat method, where the second fermentation occurs in a closed tank before the wine is bottled. Champagne is made using the méthode Champenoise, or traditional method. This technique uses a second fermentation in individual bottles as well as lees aging (aging on spent yeast) to give the wine strong bubbles and bready aromas.
- Grapes used: Prosecco is made from at least 85% glera, which is a fruity, aromatic white grape. Other grapes are allowed in smaller quantities, including chardonnay and pinot noir, two of the main grapes of Champagne. Champagne is based on these two grapes, plus the red grape pinot meunier, and does not include glera.
- Sweetness: Most prosecco is extra dry or brut, styles which have discernible sweetness. Champagne tends to be drier, with extra brut being a more common level of dosage. Those looking for bone dry wine should try brut nature (zero dosage) Champagne.
