Prosecco by the pint: Is absolutely nothing sacred?

GIE’ us a pint of prosecco, big man” sounds an unlikely bar call, and more like that old Billy Connolly sketch involving two Scotsmen in Rome and endless pints of crème de menthe. But it’s certainly feasible given the growing number of places that now sell the Italian sparkler on tap. With our insatiable thirst boosting sales by 75% last year, the bar-trade is simply surfing the great prosecco wave that first broke in the supermarkets.

In its homeland, in the hills north of Venice, they are furious to see it flogged like Tennent’s. “What’s happening is against the law,” Stefano Zanette, president of the Consorzio Prosecco DOC, told me. “What is sold in kegs is not prosecco, it’s generic sparkling wine.” Which, according to Zanette, is how it leaves Italy. Arriving in bulk, it undergoes a magical transformation in the UK to become draught ‘prosecco’ – a practice the Italian state is determined to outlaw.

Prosecco has been here before. Traditional producers suffered all manner of abuse from the cheap stuff grown on the Venetian plains, known as prosecco IGT that flooded German discount stores. It was even sold in cans, promoted by Paris Hilton wearing nothing but a layer of gold paint. That provoked a major clampdown in 2008.

So you can’t officially buy it in bulk – you have to wonder what they’re really selling on tap. I suspect much of it comes from the Veneto. Of course you would never get champagne like that, being bottle-fermented it would be impossible. But prosecco is a far more easygoing, everyday fizz.

It was time to head to Edinburgh’s G&V hotel, formerly the Missoni, whose bar was the first in Scotland to offer draught prosecco in 2009. Marta, the sommelier, told me: “People came in just to see it, and they’re still in awe. It’s very popular.” The menu is being reprinted to remove the ‘p’ word and avoid any dawn raid by the Italian police. For £6 you get a glass of semi-sparkling frizzante that definitely tasted of prosecco to me. Not the best, but by no means the worst.