Prosecco is a light, fun sparkler from the Veneto region surrounding Venice and is made mainly from the grape of the same name. It's been around since at least the 18th century (first recorded mention of it) but it's mostly been yet another local Italian. In the last decade, however, prosecco has been on a roll. Sales have been rising and, as seminar moderator and top wine critic David Lawrason pointed out, so has the quality: "I've been tasting wine seriously for 25 years. Before it was always hard to describe prosecco," he said, implying that it was all over the place. "But in the last few years, the quality has improved so much."

Lawrason's not the only one who thinks so - this year, for the first time, certain proseccos are in the coveted DOCG category, the highest quality standard in Italian wines. The prices are rising too. Normally a fun little sparkler in the mid-teens, several of the ones we tried were over $20 and one was $40! They now sell 53 million bottles of it a year and sales in Ontario have risen 13.5% this year, from an already higher base.

Giuseppe Martelli, president of the Italian National Wine Committee, seemed to be channelling Victor Mature in the 60s movie After The Fox, all black hair and with more attitude. Martelli was gruff and dismissive of silly questions, but also amusing and controversial, even through a translator who, based on his impeccable pronunciation of "chardonnay", "champagne" and "France", would have much preferred to be translating into French.  Martelli explained the rules and categories and described the arc of prosecco. Key words to remember are "floral, fruity and fresh".

Production wise, prosecco uses the Charmat method rather than the "method traditionelle" of Champagne. The former is a bulk production technique where the second fermentation, which creates the bubbles, is done in a stainless steel tank. The proceeds are then bottled. The latter, which is used in Champagne and elsewhere, sees the second fermentation occur in the bottle. In terms of production, it is much cheaper to use the Charmat method, hence prosecco's generally lower prices.

The quality level of all the proseccos presented in the seminar was good. David Lawrason rightly reminded us that we should also be looking at the similarities between the wines rather than just trying to work out the differences. There were both similarities and differences.

Nino Franco Spumante
Apple fruit on the nose, which also had a bready note. Dry, fresh and light on the palate, the bubbles were sharp. Simple and clean.

Ruggeri & Co Brut Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG 2009
Brighter and lighter nose with peach and aromatic notes. Very dry and rather sharp on the palate. There were mineral notes as well in this light, fresh example.

Toffoli Prosecco Superiore Di Conenegliano E Valdobbiadene Spumante Extra Dry Rive Di Refrontolo 2009
Phew! Could the name be any longer? Anyway, richer nose here of more peach and apple. Fresh and sharp on the palate and there's a sweeter note. Which makes sense because "extra dry" as an official category is sweeter than "brut" (or "dry"). I don't get it either but that's the way it is. So mind those categories.

Bortolini Valdobbiadene DocG Prosecco Superiore Extra Dry 2009
Very muted nose with a sweet and perfumed note under. Acidity is good and it's smooth. Nicely balanced with a sweet note on the finish.

Le Bertole Valdobbiadene DOCG Spumante Dry Superiore 2009
Fresh and light on the nose with citrus and mineral notes. More mineral on the palate, which is fresh and dry, but with a slight honeyed note under. Very nice.

Bisol Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG 2009
My favourite, and the most expensive, this one had a muted nose of white fruit. Very dry and clean on the palate, which nevertheless had a pleasant bit of sweetness. Very elegant and restrained, almost like it wasn't there. But it was.

No exact Ontario prices were given and not all of them are available right here right now, but hopefully you now have an idea of how and why prosecco is worth looking into.