It’s extremely rare to find an Extra Brut Prosecco, which is the driest form, with 6g/l of sugar or lower, and even rarer to find a really good one. But here is a delicious example of a bone-dry Prosecco that offers the chalky refreshment of a sugarless fizz – and, should you be want it, a lower calorie content too. The flavours range from ripe orange to pear, fresh apple and bitter almond, making for a layered and fruity drop, albeit one with a slightly hard finish – something a bit of sweetness would soften. The 2022 competition was judged on 26 April at 28-50 Chelsea, employing experienced judges. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding in their field received the ultimate accolade – the title of Prosecco Master. This report features the medal winners only. Read on for the list of all the medal-winning wines in this year’s Prosecco Masters, as well as further information about the competition. Not only do these provide an appealing alternative for those preferring a drink without a hint of sweetness, but also, a lower-calorie apéritif – should that be desirable. And while these rosatos had plenty of ripe berry flavours, these weren’t too sweet, ensuring they were pretty, fruity, and refreshing. Fiol and Della Vite proved particularly fine examples, making a pleasing end to the UK’s largest professional tasting of Prosecco. Winery

In 2015 FIOL has been awarded with one silver medal at the Prosecco Masters from a panel composed of Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers and senior buyers. [7] In other words, if you like combination of ripe peach and crisp apple, then good DOCG Prosecco will provide it. And if you are content with a simpler sweet pear sensation, then DOC will deliver it. With high-quality judges and a unique sampling process, The Global Prosecco Masters provides a chance for your wines to star. As for a further general point, when it comes to low-sugar Prosecco, the DOCG of Asolo appears an especially good place to go, as the fruit character from this lesser-known and smaller area tends to be richer, and riper, making it in need of less sweetness.FIOL Silver Medal at Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine&Spirit Competition". Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine&Spirit Competition. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04 . Retrieved 2015-06-14. There is a distinctive rise in quality and interest when one looks at Superiore DOCG wines, as our 2023 Gold and Master medal-winners show. These wines, which come from the caldera and rolling hills in the heart of Treviso around Conegliano-Valdobbiadene and Asolo, are sensationally delicious.

Finally, what about rosé? As the newly allowed sub-category of DOC Prosecco – bear in mind that DOCG regions have not authorised this colour variant – there is much excitement about its arrival. While this is justified on the basis that pink fizz is popular, and so too in Prosecco, in terms of the product, Prosecco rosato is not a markedly different proposition in terms of taste. Aroma – “Soft, ripe green fruits, green pears, apple blossom, and a touch of foliage on the aroma.” These simpler styles of Prosecco wines indicate that, while the overall level of quality is good, not all Proseccos are created equal, so a level of attention in selection is required. Youthful age guarding the freshness is always relevant for these DOC wines. Most of these wines are produced in an Extra Dry style, with around 12g/l-17g/l residual sugar, which suits the peachy fruit flavour well. These are easy-drinking, crowd-pleasing wines, perfect for a spring day among the daffodils and cherry trees. So you work in marketing, and you’re considering how to create a new category of drinks? What’s the best approach? And where should one draw inspiration? Prosecco is the ideal place to look for ideas. That’s because it has managed, in a relatively short space of time, to become a 500 million bottle a year business, taking sparkling wine mainstream, well beyond it traditional association with celebratory times. As a result, almost any occasion is ripe for sipping this light, aromatic Italian fizz, which is now by far the largest sparkling wine type in the world in terms of volumes sold. If one considers that Prosecco has increased in production volumes by tenfold in the past 15 years, from around 60 million bottles to more than 600m today, its remarkable how the fizz has reached such a scale while retaining its appealing combination of clean, aromatic peach and pear flavours, with a touch of sweetness, offset by a zesty edge.As for the issue of diversity, there seems to be a broadening of Prosecco styles, with successful results among the differing profiles. In terms of sugar levels, Prosecco does seem to best suit an ‘extra dry’ sweetness (12g-17g/l), with around 13g-15g/l being optimal to fill out the mid-palate without tasting saccharine. However, there appears to be a rising number of Brut and even Extra Brut Proseccos coming on to the market, offering a slightly sharper drinking experience, but, due to the use of fine, ripe fruit, a taste that isn’t too hard.

However, in my experience from this year’s competition, and previous ones, the DOCG sparkling wines tend to have a purer, more defined fruit expression than the DOC Proseccos at similar prices. The former also tend to have a bit less sugar too, requiring the fruit in DOCG wines to be faultless and fully ripe, while allowing the taste of such fine grapes to shine, without the masking effect that can arise from perceptible sweetness. The go-to producer for these styles is Andreola, which manages to capture Prosecco at its best, with its orchard fruits, citrus zest, and floral aromatics, even a chalky character, more commonly associated with Champagne or English sparkling wine. If you are involved in marketing, then you’ll want to consider every aspect of its success, starting with the four p’s of product, price, place and promotion. And Prosecco scores well on all counts, with its fairly low cost, broad distribution, combined with positive Italian associations and its easy-to-pronounce memorable name.