That’s why I don’t drink Prosecco anymore… And what I toast to instead

Once upon a time I drank Prosecco – as you all probably do. At company aperitifs, birthdays, invitations. Feels like gallons of it. I never questioned it. Prosecco was… okay, wasn’t it?

Or not?

Well, “okay” is certainly not a superlative. And my assessment began to change outwardly when I began to spend more time in French regions for work reasons. And they don’t drink Prosecco there. On boit your champagne. And lo and behold: even the most run-of-the-mill bubbly tasted much better than the various Prosecchi that have been foisted on me over the years.

And so I decided: done. From. No more prosecco for me.

But what instead? Champagne alone would be pretty disastrous. But soon I realized that crémant or cava actually tasted just as good to me. Certainly more so than the floral, lightly perfumed note of Prosecco, which often gave me a mild headache while drinking.

Why? Well, I have a hunch: I suspect my sparkling wine preferences are less about different grape varieties and not about quality ratings, but about different production processes. Because except Colonel Fondo and some others, the vast majority of Prosecchi is made in the Tank fermentation – the so-called Charmat-Martinotti method, where the second fermentation takes place in large stainless steel tanks and not in each individual bottle. Champagne (as well as Crémant, Cava, Franciacorta and Co.) received fermentation in bottle – method champenoise, method traditional.

Well, that’s my assumption. A scientific derivation is of course still lacking. The extent to which other factors, such as grape varieties, may play a greater role should be further investigated. Maybe it’s just autosuggestion. But my opinion is firm: No Prosecco for me, thanks!

Instead, I recommend toasting with the following:

Oh yes: always, actually brut/sec/brut nature, Okay? hands off demi sec! Minimum stops.

Cheers everyone and happy holidays!