My ambivalence about Prosecco is only exceeded by my love of sparkling wines.  It is because of this enduring love that I keep trying wines made from Prosecco though they so often dissapoint . . . Thank goodness!  I recently tasted this wine from San Giovanni, and, well, it’s delcious.

The truth is, all Prosecco isn’t created equal.  Prosecco is a grape, who’s name, on its own, isn’t protected by any sort of appellation laws, and thus can be made in just about any way that a winery (or more likely, a wine-production factory) sees fit.  The sparkling wine that we think of when we think of Prosecco is also not protected, unless it’s from Conigliano or Valdobbiadene.  The DOC (Denominacion de Origine Contolata, which is roughly equivelant to France’s AOC) for Prosecco is Prosecco di Valdobbiadene DOC (or di Conigliano DOC).  DOC wines have limited yeilds and prescribed winemaking methods.  First Lesson; Always look for one of the DOC’s.  The others are (99.9% of the time) cheap imitations.

But even the DOC wines can be confusing, as the DOC doesn’t require that the wines be sparkling: in fact, the wine can be still (rare), frizzante (partially sparkling), or spumante (fully sparkling).  The best, are usually Spumante, but every once and a while, there is a great frizzante Prosecco.  Even then, you don’t have a a garauntee of quality, as the prescribed method of making Prosecco sparkling is the Cuve Close method, which means that the wines undergoe their second fermentation in a pressurized tank and are bottled under pressure.  This is not a necessarily inferior process, but Cuve Close does allow the possibility of speeding up the secondary fermentation to a point that virtually eliminates contact with the lees, which are what give method Champenoise sparkling wines their character.

So even when we find wines that are DOC Prosecco (from either region), we aren’t guaranteed quality.  Our only choice is to try them.  A good Prosecco di Valdobbiadene will have a soft mousse with relatively small bubbles (not, usually, as small as great Champagne), pleasant, clean fruity (apple, pear, lemon) aromas, and a refreshing acidity.  The best Prosecco will also have a muted minerality, and intriguing hay and herb quality, and a long, creamy finish.  This is one of those.

San Giovanni is an agricultural concern located right in the hills of Treviso. The entire Perini family works in the business and this is why San Giovanni is a perfect combination of the experience and tradition of their grandparents, the passion, culture and continuity of the adults and the enthusiasm of the younger ones for all the innovations in the enterprise.

The family has passed down the traditional vintage and winemaking techniques from one generation to the other, thus producing delicious wines that develop the perfumes and tastes of times gone by.

Try this wine with movie theater style butter-flavored popcorn (tastes best when you smuggle the wine into the theatre, but works at home as well), sautéed (or fried) calamari, or Taleggio cheese.  Drink NOW – Dec 2009.