The Best Italian Sparkling Wines and Prosecco

It is important to highlight the substantial differences that exist between a sparkling wine and a prosecco wine. Many people think, for example, that prosecco is a brut sparkling wine, or a dry sparkling

Basically, the difference between the two is the following: prosecco represents a production area and a particular grape variety, while sparkling wine is a wine without a denomination, made either with the Charmat method or with the classical method, in any Italian area.

The grape variety that gives rise to prosecco is Glera, which is typical of the regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Sparkling wine, on the other hand, is a wine that produces foam (sparkling) due to the presence of carbon dioxide and can be more or less sweet (for example, we know that Brut

To complete these definitions, we must also add Franciacorta and Champagne, which both represent production areas. The first in Italy, in Lombardy near Brescia, the other in France, east of Paris. Both give their name to their main wine, Franciacorta and Champagne and both use the classic method to do it (which in France is called the Champenoise method). Franciacorta is a DOCG, that is, a controlled and guaranteed denomination of origin. And thanks to a change in the specification in 2010, the method with which it is done is also called Franciacorta. So, in summary, the term Franciacorta means: a production area, the Franciacorta DOCG wine and also the

Prosecco can be sparkling, sparkling or still depending on the production process to which it is subjected. Still prosecco (also called "quiet"”) is a straw yellow wine that is perfect as a wine for appetizers or light first courses, thanks to its soft and fresh taste, characterized by pleasant fruity notes. What distinguishes the first two types, however, is the characteristic presence of bubbles, due to the carbon dioxide produced following a second fermentation. The different pressure to which the bottled product is subjected differentiates sparkling wine from sparkling wine: the latter type

To produce sparkling prosecco, a particular refermentation process is followed, starting from the still base wine. The base wine is placed in large pressure-tight steel containers, yeasts and sugar substances are added. This activates the refermentation that allows the formation of the much loved bubbles (carbon dioxide), also increasing the alcohol content. This method called the Charmat Method (or Martinotti) is rather fast and allows us to obtain sparkling wine in a few months.

Not all bottles of sparkling Prosecco offer the same sensations on the palate. This is mainly because, like any sparkling wine, even prosecco can be classified based on the sugar residue present in the product. In particular, sparkling wines can be classified into the following categories: Pas dosé, extremely dry; Brut nature; Extra brut; Brut, i.e. dry; Extra dry; Dry, slightly sweet; Demi sec; Sweet.