Wine is one of the finest alcoholic beverages available.
It has a strong fan following but the one that takes the proverbial cake is Prosecco Asolo.
What is that?
Prosecco is a sparkling wine variant that enjoys the prestigious DOCG/DOC title. It is a fully sparkling wine (broadly categorized as Spumante). It has (+-) 11% alcohol by volume.
Where it is from?
Prosecco Asolo is a product of Northeast Italy. Specifically, it is from Conegliano Valdobbiadene – a small region of Veneto. It should not be confused with other available fine quality sparkling wines.
What makes it special?
Asolo comes with more bubbles and low sweetness due to low sugar levels in the beverage.
Which species of grapes are used?
Back in the day, Asolo was produced from both the Glera and Prosecco variants of wine grapes. These grapes naturally come with thin skin and were predominantly grown in the Friuli as well as the Veneto regions of Italy’s North for several hundred years.
These days, authentic Italian Prosecco sparkling wine is made from 85% Glera and 15% Prosecco grapes.
Why Glera is prioritised?
Glera, compared to Prosecco, offers more yields. High yields allow wineries in the Veneto region to produce neutral wines.
Furthermore, compared to Prosecco, Glera is preferred for its naturally high acidic level which is a must-have attribute in high-quality sparkling wines. Glera is also loved for its ability to add smooth notes of –
- Melons
- White flowers
- Pear and
- Peaches in the resulting wine.
Sparkling wine made from the Glera species of grapes is always medium-bodied. This means that the resulting wines will have an ABV (Alcohol By Volume) content in the range of 8.5% to 12.5%.
How is Asolo Prosecco made?
There are two processes that authentic wineries in Veneto use to produce Asolo Prosecco and they are as follows –
The traditional method –
- The first step consists of the wine master adding dry wine into a clean wine bottle.
- The second step is the addition of sugar and yeast.
- The third step is sealing the bottle with a cork cap so that the yeast consumes the sugar and releases carbon dioxide as a by-product which gets trapped in the wine in the form of bubbles.
Downsides of the traditional method –
- It is an expensive method.
- The fermentation process remains active inside the bottle hence, the wine is better only when aged properly.
- This process changes the wine by adding complexity to its texture and flavour.
The Charmat-Martinotti method
During this step, the base wine is poured into a large pressure tank. Then the secondary fermentation process is triggered by the wine master with the addition of sugar and yeast. The wine is then cooled when the desired pressure inside the tank is achieved in a bid to stop the intensity of the fermentation process. This is an essential step to retain the perfume and freshness of the Glera grapes in the resulting wine.
Conclusion
If you are a wine enthusiast or a wine connoisseur then always look for authentic Prosecco Asolo. How to do that? Well, you would have to look for the letters DOCG or DOC on the label of the Asolo wine bottle. DOCG and DOC stands for ‘Denominazione d’Origine Controllata e Garantita’ and ‘Denominazione d’Origine Controllata’ respectively. These titles are only given to authentic bottles of Asolo from the Conegliano Valdobbiadene region of Italy. Be vigilant while shopping for Prosecco as these bottles don’t come cheap!
CAMPAIGN FINANCED ACCORDING TO THE (EC) REGULATION N. 1308/2013 
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