It’s Like Sipping Spring

By Robert Paul –

I appreciate the taste of Prosecco the way I like sparkling rose wines – in the warm or hot weather. If you haven’t discovered Prosecco yet, April is a great time for your own personal tasting of the several brands on the market. Prosecco is a sparkling Italian wine produced in the Veneto area and Friuli Venezia Giula and in the hills north of Treviso.

Bubbly, pretty, refreshing and friendly to the foods of spring and summer, Prosecco wine is lovely on its own, chilled slightly. But Prosecco is also the base for a whole range tempting cocktail and wine coolers that will find a welcome place on your brunch table or evening buffet.

The color of Prosecco is typically pale gold and the flavor is light, fresh, fruity and uncomplicated. It’s a wine meant to be drunk young and typically Prosecco is never aged more than three years. It’s sweeter than champagne and not nearly as complex. Prosecco is also a lot less expansive than champagne. The Prosecco price range is $10- $20.

In Italy Prosecco is enjoyed with appetizers, meals and desserts. In America (the world’s third largest importer of Prosecco) we tend to drink Prosecco as an apertif but I like to pour it straight through a spring or summer meal. And Prosecco makes a great cocktail. Here are two you might want to try this month.

Prosecco Lemon-Raspberry Chiller

¼ cup of sugar

¼ cup of fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh lemon rind

2 bottles of Prosecco

1 cup of fresh raspberries.

To make the infused simple syrup, combine sugar and lemon juice in a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Stir in rind. Cover and refrigerate overnight then strain the rinds out before mixing. To compose the cocktail, combine the lemon syrup with the bottles of Prosecco in a punch bowl or 2 large pitchers. Add the raspberries to the mixture. Pour into cold cocktail glasses.

Prosecco Amore

1 ounce vodka

½ ounce orange liqueur

½ ounce peach nectar

Prosecco

Garnish – sliced peaches and raspberries.

Pour the vodka, orange liqueur, and peach nectar into a chilled shaker filled with ice. Strain into a champagne flute and fill to the top with Prosecco. Garnish with a slice of peach and two raspberries.

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