THE UNSTOPPABLE VERVE OF ITALIAN BUBBLES
From traditional to inventive, structured and sponteneous, the darling of Italian sparkles is set to keep hold and grow internationally and day by day.
Some 5,500 souls call the northeastern Italian town of Torreglia home. Nestled between Padua and Venice, it is safe to say that like the many villages and cities in the 18,264-square kilometer region of Veneto, Prosecco is abundant, affordable and sipped regularly.
At a local watering hole called Per Bacco (a humorous play on words meaning ‘for goodness sake’ but referring to the god of wine, Bacchus), locals call out for an “ombra”. Some of the sparkles are served in short, thick tumblers and others more elegant, crystal wine glasses. Often it is mixed with Aperol or Campari liqueurs to create a drink called Spritz.
An ‘Ombra’ (or its diminutive ‘ombretta’ if it is imbibed before noon or in smaller portions) is an aperitif and is almost always comes in the form of Prosecco. And in the small but bustling locale positioned directly in front of the church on the town’s main street, Prosecco flows in many varieties. There are simple, low-cost cooperative-produced offerings, drawn from taps glistening on the wall, or higher-end bottles, popped open to order. Prosecco, the sparkling darling of northern Italy, is a year-round favorite, a regional calling card and says journalist Monica Larner, the Italian Reviewer for The Wine Advocate and erobertparker.com – is arguably the “single most important motor driving Italian wine exports today. If you subtract Prosecco from the volume and the value of wine that Italy sells in foreign markets, Italy would no longer figure as a top exporter to the United States.” Like it or not, Prosecco is “a force to be reckoned with”, says Larner. Prosecco has a long history that goes back at least four centuries. Made from Glera grapes, produced mainly in the Veneto region, the largest, and best-known producing areas are near Conegliano and the Valdobbiadene hills, where climatic conditions help create spectacular results.
While most are light in alcohol (11% is the average) and don’t empty the bank account, the swankier products like cru Prosecco grown on the verdant and steep slopes of Cartizze have often been tapped as Italy’s champagne. However, one notable producer begs to disagree. “Champagne and Prosecco are two completely different products. Of course, Prosecco’s lower cost makes it more accessible, but that isn’t the only reason it is popular. The taste is unique and full of aromas from this region. It is beautiful,” says Giancarlo Moretti Polegato, part of the family that owns the Villa Sandi estate. While the Moretti Polegato family produces a range of fine-aged Veneto wines, they are also a solid participant in the elite club of Cartizze DOCG Proseccos, winning awards after the first vintage and continuing to do so to date.
So where is the Prosecco road flowing? According to the 2018 IWSR (International Wine and Spirits Record)/vinexpo study, within two years it is expected to outgrow all other types of sparkling wine, including Champagne. It is forecast to capture a whopping 9.2 percent of the global share of sparkling wine. Part of what helped leverage Prosecco internationally is the effort to ensure that it is understood and protected. Providently, producers changed the name of the grape (previously Prosecco) to Glera some years ago. Says Larner, “This was done to avoid the problem that Pinot Grigio continues to face. Anyone anywhere (even in faraway places like Brazil and Bulgaria) would have been able to grow the Prosecco grape and write “Prosecco” on the wine label thus cashing on the lucrative Italian brand.” Now, under European law, this is no longer possible. Another sharp move was to enlarge the Prosecco region all the way to the neighboring Friuli Venezia Giulia, near the Slovenian border, where the minuscule moniker town of Prosecco is located. “This enlargement enabled Prosecco to become a full-fledged geographic origin wine the way Barolo or Beaujolais is,” says Larner. Through enlargement, Prosecco DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) was galvanized and subsequently, it was legally possible to create a DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) area with a higher classification such as Superiore. It is not just the joyful bouquets and drinkability of Italian sparkles that make them world-famous. Recently, the Italian Commission of UNESCO officially approved the candidacy of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene hills as a World Heritage Site, with the final decision to be announced this year. Prosecco is expressed in three distinct styles that can be confusing: The sweetest of them all is Dry, saturated with honey notes and mixed fruit aromas. Extra Dry, instead, has sweetness brought out by fruitiness and floral aromas. Extra Dry is the most traditional and is what most of the shelves in Veneto are lined with. The driest and newest trend is Brut, with crispiness and fun twists on what the average swiller of white wines would finger as ‘dry’. A growing trend towards Brut isn’t aimed at local tastes, but more for the international market.
In and out of Italy, Prosecco is a charmer that is regional and acquired. When Mestre-born architect and artist Lucia, along with her foreign-correspondent husband Christopher made the move from north to south, their packing list included cases of local Prosecco. “Every time my family comes to see us in Rome, they drive the 6 hours down…. and we refill our cantina.” For Veneti, Prosecco is part of their past, present and most certainly, future.