NORTH MAIN STREET SPARKLER

Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Mara Oro DOCG Extra Dry, 11.%, (Bradley’s North Main Street)  ****

Arriving in Venice

A few years back, I arrived in Venice with a group of about forty. As we waited to board our gondolas, I spotted a few wooden huts nearby, filled from top to bottom with bottles of Prosecco, stored with no respect.

On board, the gondolier handed out a bottle to one of our Australian companions. He shared it out among six of us and, with the sun shining and the excitement of the trip high, we toasted one another without a thought given to the quality.

For a while now, Prosecco has been seen as the cheaper alternative to Champagne and, in some cases as a serious rival. That has led to an explosion in production and in some cases a lack of quality. And non-Italian copycats are also a problem.

In the past two years or so, the Italian producers in this area have moved to enhance the status of the wine and protect it from local and international competitions by acquiring the DOCG status. This means that true Prosecco can come only from the designated area. The wines from outside this area will be called “Gerla,” after an old name for the grape Prosecco. http://www.enowinerooms.com/blog/italian-wine-tasting-and-seminars

Bradley’s bottle comes from the hills between the villages Conegliano and Valdobbiadene which is the birthplace of Prosecco as we know it today. Hugh Johnson in his 2011 Pocket Wine Book comments on it: "Now DOCG status light sparkler consumed as aperitif in all bars in Venice and throughout Italy".

Bradley’s offering is a very good example of the type: rich, round and aromatic and a smashing celebration pour for sure. It is full bodied and well structured with an appealing acidity and, with the soft peachiness typical of the grape, is quite an aperitif. And like all Prosecco is meant to be drunk young.

Compared to Champagne, Prosecco generally offers good value for its quality, so consumers are flocking to the Italian equivalent.