Top 10 Most Asked Questions About Prosecco

Entering the World of Prosecco is almost like stepping into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory, you taste Prosecco rather than Sweets, Chocolate and Candy, but the magic feeling is the same, but for those stepping into the World of Prosecco for the very first time, here are 10 of the most asked questions asked about Prosecco and there answers.

1 – Is All Prosecco The Same?

No, like any Sparkling Wine, there are different producers, different sugar levels, different grape combinations, and different Winemakers, you’ll find different and unique styles of Prosecco, some may taste simular, but none will taste the same.

2 – What Does Prosecco Taste Like?

You can find an abundance of different flavours and aromas inside a glass of Prosecco, any of the following can be tasted.

• Green Fruits
• Yellow Fruits
• Yellow Stone Fruits
• Apples – Red or Green
• Pears
• Tropical Fruits
• Pineapple
• Banana
• Melon
• Peach
• Blossom – Yellow or White
• Floral
• Zesty – Lemon or Lime

3 – What’s The Most Popular Prosecco?

The most common Prosecco is the Extra Dry Prosecco, which contains 12-17 grams of sugar per bottle, as of 2020 accounting for 67.1% of the total Prosecco Production.

• Brut Nature (0 grams of sugar) (0.1%)
• Extra Brut (3-6 grams of sugar) (0.3%)
• Brut (6-12 grams of sugar) (24.1%)
• Extra Dry (12-17 grams of sugar) (67.1%)
• Dry (17-32 grams of sugar) (8%)
• Demi-sec (32-50 grams of sugar) (0.4%)

4 – How Long Can You Store Prosecco?

Once you buy a bottle of Prosecco, typically people enjoy it within a few days, a week at most, sometimes you buy a bottle for a special occasion or party which then gets canceled, and instead of drinking the Prosecco, you store it at the back of your fridge, and after a year you spot that bottle hiding away, as you take it out, you wonder is it still OK to drink? The answer is yes!

Prosecco is made to be drunk soon after buying, but whether stored in a fridge or under the stairs, a bottle of Prosecco can easily last up to 3 years.

Unlike Champagne which can most definitely be left for decades and then enjoyed at a higher level of quality, Prosecco is more of a gamble, if you have the patience to store it for around 2-3 years, then you may very well get an enhanced experience, but if you left a bottle of Prosecco for 10 years, then you’re maybe pushing the line a bit, but not necessarily breaking it.

It works like this, as Prosecco contains a higher sugar level on average, it loses its flavours and fizz quicker than other Sparkling Wines, but recently in 2022, I enjoyed a bottle of Supermarket Prosecco from 2012, the quality standard had dropped, I’d say about 25-30%, but it was still very much drinkable, it would clench your thirst in the sun and work in a handful of Cocktails.

There isn’t much published research on how long a bottle of Prosecco can last, in my personal opinion, although Prosecco can be stored for 10 or even 20 years, it probably won’t be very beneficial to the overall flavours and aromas, they are likely to drop in quality, but if you take a bottle of Brut Nature Prosecco, which accounts for only 0.1% of the Prosecco market, then you may get a longer life out that bottle because of the zero added sugar.

Side Note – If your bottle of Prosecco is corked, smells off, or is discolored, I would reframe from drinking it, especially after years of storage.

5 – Can You buy Vintage Prosecco?

Yes, you can buy vintage Prosecco, most of the time you’ll find DOCG Vintages, rather than DOC, but you can buy vintage Prosecco, it simply means that all of the grapes in the bottle were grown in that same year.

6 – Is Cheap Prosecco Bad?

Prosecco can range from around £5 all the way up to £30, there are different regions in Prosecco, with the Cartizze region being the smallest, priciest and highest quality, bottles from this region can range from £20-30 per bottle. But most Prosecco comes at a cheap price because of the speed it is produced, when looking for great producers that offer cheaper and more expensive Prosecco, the likes Villa Sandi, Bisol, Giusti and Montelvini are four fantastic Prosecco Houses.

Just because Prosecco is Cheap, doesn’t mean it will be bad, that comes down to the Producer, how much care and attention they put and your taste buds, it’s just like trying to pick a bottle of Champagne, just that Prosecco is easier on your wallet.

Side Note – Look at the bottleneck on Prosecco, you will see either a Blue DOC label or a Brown DOCG label, DOC is the standard Prosecco that you’ll find, with most of it grown on flat vineyards, the DOCG is considered higher quality, produced from grapes grown more on hillsides and mountainous vineyards, the DOCG region is much smaller than the DOC region, with the Cartizze region being a smaller region within the DOCG region. The smaller the region and the higher the vineyards, the better quality you’re likely to find.

7 – Why Is Prosecco So Cheap?

Prosecco is made with the Charmat/Tank Method, which takes as little as 30 days to produce from picking to bottling, which allows it to hit the shelves quicker and gives the Prosecco houses a Profit in a quicker time frame compared to Champagne, which takes a minimum of 18 months to make a bottle.

If chosen Prosecco can take up to 9 months, a Prosecco house can decide to do this, you’ll normally find they consider the Prosecco of higher quality, like a DOCG or a Cartizze.

8 – What’s The Difference Between Prosecco and Champagne?

There are many differences, in the production, grapes, and characters, if you were given a glass of Prosecco and Champagne, but not told which is which, you’re most likely going to be able to tell the difference, even if you’ve never tasted either before, you would be able to tell that they are two different styles.

With Prosecco being light, fruity and floral (+ more), and Champagne being bold, yeasty, citrus, nutty, and sometimes yellow fruits (+ more), the two different styles are not hard to differentiate.

Prosecco is also made with the Charmat Method which takes as little as 30 days to complete and Champagne is made with the Traditional Method which takes a minimum of 18 months to complete.

Prosecco is known for the Glera Grape while Champagne is known for the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier Grapes.

9 – How Long Can An Open Bottle Of Prosecco Last For?

About 3-5 days before it starts losing its fizz, make sure you store it in the fridge and place a bottle stopper or at very least a metal teaspoon in the neck of the bottle to slow down the bubbles escaping.

10 – Where Is Prosecco From?

Prosecco is from the Prosecco region in Northern Italy, it is just an hour’s drive from Venice, in the Treviso Region of Italy.

Fun Fact – The Glera Grape which always makes up 85% of every bottle of Prosecco, usest to be Called the Prosecco Grape, they changed the name in 2009 to protect the name of the geographically-protected region, ‘Prosecco’ from being used on other bottles outside of the region.

 

Prosecco Statistics are from 2020, Source: Institutional Bodies and House Sparkling Companies