Plop: good news if you love rosé and prosecco

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the food lovers of online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat and what to cook. This time our chefs serve you: the rosé prosecco.

There has been whispering for a while about the start of production of a rosé version of the famous Italian fizz and now the bullet has been fired: rosé prosecco is coming! And believe me: there’s a good chance that pink prosecco will become the new summer drink.

The ‘elixir of life’ prosecco is to Northern Italy what champagne is to France and cava is to Spain: the country's most famous bubble. It's actually strange that for years an astonishing number of bottles of prosecco have been flying around the world (for reference: in 2018 there were about 600 million (!) – almost twice as many as champagne) and that no rosé prosecco has ever been produced. Because pink bubbly wine is not only very cheerful and tasty, it is also incredibly popular. Rosé champagne and rosé cava have been around for a long time. Good news for prosecco lovers who enjoy rosé wine; recently, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture approved that a pink variant may be made from the cheerful Italian sparkling wine.

One prosecco is not the other

Just like champagne can only be called that if it comes from Champagne, prosecco also has a protected designation of origin (DOC). Prosecco DOC may be produced in five provinces of Veneto and in four provinces of Friuli. Because prosecco is made from the grape of the same name, a name change was decided and that grape has been known as ‘glera’ since 2009. Although this sounds more like a sexually transmitted disease than a cheerful little grape, it turned out to be a smart move to curb the proliferation of prosecco and separate the wheat from the chaff. Making bubbly wine from the glera grape can also be done in other places, but the name prosecco may only be used for wine coming from the designated area.

Prosecco for luxury lovers

Yes, prosecco with a higher status also exists: prosecco from Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, a beautiful area about sixty kilometers north of Venice, with an unpronounceable name, I have given up on that, has a DOCG status. DOCG stands for ‘Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita’ and is the highest qualification you can get for a wine in Italy. Only 15 municipalities around the places Valdobbiadene and Conegliano may put Prosecco DOCG on the label, provided they meet the strict requirements. These requirements include the location of the vineyard, the maximum yield, and the amount of juice obtained from the grapes. A small part of the area, called Cartizze, is known as the grand cru of prosecco. The bubbles that come from outside these DOCG and DOC regions exist, but do not carry the name prosecco. If you want to impress, buy such a grand cru prosecco and casually mumble what I explained to you above. Success guaranteed.

The big difference with champagne

Although prosecco bubbles nicely, it is made in a very different way than that famous French bubble. Prosecco is (almost always) made using the méthode Charmat. Here, the second fermentation takes place in a stainless steel tank, creating a nice frothy mousse. It is a less labor-intensive method than that used for making champagne, where the second fermentation occurs in the bottle itself. The end product is therefore also more affordable. Prosecco is often referred to as a democratic bubble; affordable for everyone, while champagne is much more expensive.

Frizzante and spumante

Prosecco can be frizzante or spumante. With frizzante, the most common variant, you encounter a light bubble, the result of a relatively short second fermentation. The wine is often still a bit on the sweet side because not all sugars from the grapes have been fermented. Spumante is derived from the verb ‘spumare’, which means ‘to foam’. This bubble must have a minimum pressure of three bars. In the store, you can easily distinguish them: the spumantes have a traditional champagne cork and the frizzantes have a cork with a string around it (spago), a screw cap, or sometimes a crown cap. They are not wines to be stored. So buy and drink.

Trick

With spumantes, there is a somewhat confusing three-way division: from ‘dry’ (the least dry and therefore actually not ‘dry’ as the term suggests), to ‘extra dry’ (the classic variant, with 12-17 grams of residual sugar), to ‘brut’ (the driest).

Nice opener

Prosecco fans know: their favorite bubble is fruity, lively, and fresh. A glass of fresh prosecco smells wonderfully of fluttering spring blossoms. Add to that the scent of citrus and green apples, combined with the frivolous bubbles and light character, and you have the ideal wine for a summer afternoon in the park or as an opener at a party. And if it is also rosé colored, it’s a real celebration.

From barbecue to dessert

Of course, rosé prosecco is delicious as an aperitif, but it will also do well at the table. Did you know that ‘aperitif’ comes from Latin? Aperire = to open, opens the meal and the appetite. How about rosé prosecco with tuna steak, whether from the barbecue or not, or with a dessert with red fruit like raspberries and strawberries? Or alongside a chunk of dark chocolate?

Just a little more patience...

Unfortunately, drinking such a festive bubble this summer is not yet possible. The sale of rosé prosecco is only allowed from January 1, 2021, after the harvest. And did you wonder how pink prosecco gets its pink color? That comes from the pinot noir grape, of which 10 to 15 percent must be used.

I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes the summer drink of next summer.