It didn’t have trouble finding friends. Perhaps it was the name promising a truly Italian experience. Or how its moussy froth so gorgeously tingles on the tongue. Whatever the reason, it’s thanks to Prosecco that sparkling wine is back in fashion.

We owe it to the 1980s that bon viveurs can now sip flutes of bubbly for no ostensible reason. Back then people popularly thought that sparkling wine is more refreshing than one which is not carbonized. Since Champagne was too expensive as a daily tippler, the big time had come for its poorer relatives.

Basically, Prosecco differs only slightly from German Sekt or Spanish Cava. All three are made from white wine and get their certain something from being carbonized. The key factor is the pressure: less than 3 bars and it’s just a semi-sparkling or pearl wine, more than three makes it a sparkling wine. In Italian this of course sounds more elegant – they speak of frizzante and spumante. Whether your preferred Prosecco is the pearling or the sparkling variety is a question of taste – and budget. The frizzante type of Italian sparkler is considerably more affordable.

Its taste is determined by the type of grape. And the one known as “Prosecco” grows mostly in the Veneto region. Its rise to success began when winegrowers made their wine fizzy and ceased to cultivate a sweet Prosecco. It was in the dry version that this bubbly first conquered Italy and then the rest of the world. In contrast to Champagne, Crémant or Cava, Prosecco has a further advantage, besides being cheaper: with an average alcohol content of 10.5 % it is lighter and more drinkable than all the others. Which makes it the perfect summer wine – so a second glass will hardly go amiss…

By the way, a holiday in the Veneto area can be recommended to anyone who’d like to find out all there is to know about Prosecco. The “Prosecco wine trail” stretches over 40 km between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, taking the visitor on a tour through one of the most beautiful regions in Italy.