Prosecco

Prosecco is a sparkling white wine from north-eastern Italy, specifically the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine regions. It is also the informal name for the grape variety used to make these wines, which is known officially as Glera. Since July 2009, the name 'Prosecco' has been regulated and protected under DOC law, ensuring that wines labeled with the name come only from the specified areas of north-eastern Italy.

The Prosecco DOC covers three styles of wine: still Prosecco, lightly sparkling Prosecco Frizzante and foaming Prosecco Spumante. It also has two viticultural sub-regions identified within its laws: Treviso in Veneto and Trieste in Friuli (the Asolo/Colli Asolani and Conegliano-Valdobbiadene titles have their own independent DOCGs). The still form of Prosecco is rarely seen outside Italy. Few are even aware that this wine, so overshadowed by its sparkling siblings, exists. The distinction between the spumante and frizzante wines also goes largely unnoticed: it is the difference between 2.5 and 3 bars of pressure inside the unopened bottle.