There is a mystical land in the north of Italy that has the power to harness the sun and the earth and create a magical liquid. Come with me, friends, as I tell you about the Veneto region and the time your friend, Lynne, bravely took on Prosecco Road.
Hyperbole aside, there really is a Prosecco region of Italy. Here's some further reading to help explain the region, the process and the wine! Veneto is the region, like Campania is the region where we live, and Venice is the capital. We flew into Venice and then drove an hour north to the little town of Monfumo where we joined up with some more friends in a villa that we had rented. It was lovely and rustic and high in the hills.
Here's a quick lesson in Italian wine. There are many types and classifications, most of which is strictly reviewed by the government. Of biggest note: there are 3 big distinctions: IGT, DOC, and DOCG.
IGT: (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) Pretty much means that the wine is very typical of the region from which it is produced. If you order a bottle of table wine in that town, this is what it should taste like. It's not super controlled, so a lot of wine makers now are starting to add French grapes to their Italian wine. While normal table wine is about 3-6 Euro, some IGT's can also be over 40 Euro. Take aways: it isn't normally crappy wine, it's just not super specific.
DOC: (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) DOC is more precise. The wine and grapes need to be from a controlled district of Italy to be classified as DOC. There are rules about the type of cask in which it must ferment, the amount of time it must stay in the cask, and amount of time it must stay in a bottle prior to being sold. Some DOC wines are still really cheap, but they tend to be a bit more "typical" of a more specific area and thus, normally more expensive than an IGT.
DOCG: (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) DOCG means it's from a very precise area, with very precise grapes, with a very precise fermenting and bottling process AND guaranteed to be all of those things. Prosecco Superior, what we had in Veneto, is DOCG prosecco. There is just one small region where you can grow real prosecco superior grapes and land up there is now costing millions of Euros a hectacre. All of this helps to explain those little stickers that you probably never noticed on the top of an Italian wine bottle, if you've ever bought one. That sticker is taken VERY seriously in the wine parts of Italy and the cost to get that sticker, the color denoting what level of classification it has been given, are no small matter.
Enter 9 Americans into this lovely little region. We spent 4 days drinking our way through Veneto, specifically Valdobbiadiene and Conegliano. If you butchered those names, fear not, you aren't alone! Pronounced: Valdo - bee - yawd - di - nay and Co - nay - lee - awno. And they say Italian is phonetic!
The trip was a dream. The colors of each vineyard were so bright and bold as the leaves dried under the brisk November sky. We wandered through vineyards with winemakers learning about the curviture of vines, the proper way to pick the grapes, the amounts of sugar and yeast that are required, aging, carbonation, corking. I mean, we learned a TON! It was just funny to hear them say "Prosecco is a friendly wine. It has a friendly wine making process that is not so difficult." Because, my goodness did it seem difficult! There is a huge inferiority complex in the Prosecco area about French champagne - that it's more famous, that it's more well known and respected, that it has a longer life span.
But what I learned is this: prosecco IS a friendly wine. It IS easy to drink. It goes well with cheese or on its own. The variations are crazy, even among close neighboring vineyards. But what I also learned is this: Northern Italians are also amazingly friendly people. Not far from the Austrian border, their food has strong Austrian and German influences and includes a lot of ingredients that we don't have down here, including, my goodness, duck. We had this duck ragu. Sweet merciful me. It was amazing!
Four cases of wine later, we're back at home, back at work, back in Napoli. I'm excited to open each bottle, hear that magical "POP" of the cork and remember those lazy days up north. Sigh....
Hyperbole aside, there really is a Prosecco region of Italy. Here's some further reading to help explain the region, the process and the wine! Veneto is the region, like Campania is the region where we live, and Venice is the capital. We flew into Venice and then drove an hour north to the little town of Monfumo where we joined up with some more friends in a villa that we had rented. It was lovely and rustic and high in the hills.
Here's a quick lesson in Italian wine. There are many types and classifications, most of which is strictly reviewed by the government. Of biggest note: there are 3 big distinctions: IGT, DOC, and DOCG.
IGT: (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) Pretty much means that the wine is very typical of the region from which it is produced. If you order a bottle of table wine in that town, this is what it should taste like. It's not super controlled, so a lot of wine makers now are starting to add French grapes to their Italian wine. While normal table wine is about 3-6 Euro, some IGT's can also be over 40 Euro. Take aways: it isn't normally crappy wine, it's just not super specific.
DOC: (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) DOC is more precise. The wine and grapes need to be from a controlled district of Italy to be classified as DOC. There are rules about the type of cask in which it must ferment, the amount of time it must stay in the cask, and amount of time it must stay in a bottle prior to being sold. Some DOC wines are still really cheap, but they tend to be a bit more "typical" of a more specific area and thus, normally more expensive than an IGT.
DOCG: (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) DOCG means it's from a very precise area, with very precise grapes, with a very precise fermenting and bottling process AND guaranteed to be all of those things. Prosecco Superior, what we had in Veneto, is DOCG prosecco. There is just one small region where you can grow real prosecco superior grapes and land up there is now costing millions of Euros a hectacre. All of this helps to explain those little stickers that you probably never noticed on the top of an Italian wine bottle, if you've ever bought one. That sticker is taken VERY seriously in the wine parts of Italy and the cost to get that sticker, the color denoting what level of classification it has been given, are no small matter.
Enter 9 Americans into this lovely little region. We spent 4 days drinking our way through Veneto, specifically Valdobbiadiene and Conegliano. If you butchered those names, fear not, you aren't alone! Pronounced: Valdo - bee - yawd - di - nay and Co - nay - lee - awno. And they say Italian is phonetic!
The trip was a dream. The colors of each vineyard were so bright and bold as the leaves dried under the brisk November sky. We wandered through vineyards with winemakers learning about the curviture of vines, the proper way to pick the grapes, the amounts of sugar and yeast that are required, aging, carbonation, corking. I mean, we learned a TON! It was just funny to hear them say "Prosecco is a friendly wine. It has a friendly wine making process that is not so difficult." Because, my goodness did it seem difficult! There is a huge inferiority complex in the Prosecco area about French champagne - that it's more famous, that it's more well known and respected, that it has a longer life span.
But what I learned is this: prosecco IS a friendly wine. It IS easy to drink. It goes well with cheese or on its own. The variations are crazy, even among close neighboring vineyards. But what I also learned is this: Northern Italians are also amazingly friendly people. Not far from the Austrian border, their food has strong Austrian and German influences and includes a lot of ingredients that we don't have down here, including, my goodness, duck. We had this duck ragu. Sweet merciful me. It was amazing!
Four cases of wine later, we're back at home, back at work, back in Napoli. I'm excited to open each bottle, hear that magical "POP" of the cork and remember those lazy days up north. Sigh....
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