Like most wines, all prosecco is not made equally. Prosecco, a type of sparkling wine, is made with grapes from the Conegliano Valdobbiadene region in Veneto, Italy.
Grapes in this region grow at different altitudes; the higher the altitude, the better the prosecco quality, says wine expert Vince Anter, founder and host of the V Is for Vino show on Amazon Prime.
Before buying a good bottle of prosecco, it’s important to understand what prosecco actually is — and more speci
These key differences stem from each sparkling wine’s production process.
“The big difference is how the bubbles are formed,” Anter explains. “Prosecco is made in the Charmat method. All the fermentation is done in pressurized tanks and that’s where the bubbles occur. In Champagne, bubbles occur in individual bottles.”
This method variance brings about another important difference: price. To make Champagne winemakers add yeast and sugar to each individual bottle before capping it to trap the byproducts of heat and CO2. (In still wines, these elements evaporate into the air.) With the Charmat method, they do the same thing but in big tanks versus individual bottles. “You can do hundreds or thousands of bottles at a time,” Anter says.
Champagne’s tedious production process correlates with a higher price point. “Champagne itself [from the Champagne region] starts at about €40 to €50, and you can spend way more than that,” Anter says. “Prosecco taps out in the €50 to €75 range for the high end, and you can easily get a really good prosecco for €30.”
You don’t have to go to the slopes of Veneto, Italy, to determine which prosecco is best. Just look for the DOCG label, Anter says. It’s an acronym for denominazione di origine controllata e garantita, which in English means controlled and guaranteed designation of origin.
“There’s DOC prosecco and DOCG. DOC is made in the
DOC and DOCG are certi look for these certi
Anter’s second trick for buying good wine? Skip the supermarket.
“I’m big on this for any wines: Go to your local wine shop,” he says. “Grocery stores have to stock the wine in, say, 50 stores. When you do that, you essentially say this wine has to be mass produced — but wine isn’t like something made out of a factory. When you bring up the yields, you diminish the quality.”
For the optimal prosecco experience, chill the bottle in the refrigerator. “Fridge cold, which is actually too cold for white wines, is just right,” Anter says. “Sparkling wines should be served out of a refrigerator or an ice bucket.”
Good Prosecco has to be in sparkling form
