Prosecco: break out bubbly any time

Wine has certain timeless themes that recur and reverberate across the generations. One of the great whiney refrains comes from the producers of sparkling wines, especially Champagnes. You write the music; here are the words: "Why oh why," they whine, "won't you drink our wine in the summertime!?"

Well, it's a good question. Sparkling wines are not just for special occasions. They make any occasion special. Yet most people save them for holidays, anniversaries and personal milestones such as engagements or the birth of a child. Now if you're drinking great Champagne — Krug or Dom or Bollinger or Salon — you bet it's a special-occasion wine.

But the mood-and-food-enhancing qualities of fresh, dry sparkling wine should not be relegated to once-a-year status. The Champagne folks have asked the right question. Unfortunately for them, it is the Italians who have provided the right answer.

Prosecco is the all-occasion bubbly that you can make a regular part of your wine-tasting life. It's widely available, inexpensive, food-friendly and can be quite good. It comes from the Veneto in northeast Italy, and it is a sparkling wine fermented in large tanks rather than in the bottle. It is not Champagne, does not taste like Champagne, does not age like Champagne and costs a fraction of what Champagne costs.

Prosecco is the name of the grape, but it is also the name to look for on those anonymous bottles of bubbly lining your wine retailer's shelves. Spumante, which also can appear on the label of many Italian bubblies, simply means sparkling. Asti Spumante, which became a semi-generic term for sweet, cheap Italian bubbly, led many people to equate spumante with sugar. Don't let the word spumante fool you; it does not indicate a particular level of sweetness. Rather, it signifies that the wine is made to a fizz level equivalent to full-throttle Champagne. Frizzante, on the other hand, is the term used for a low-pressure bubbly.

Proseccos are generally dry. If you spot a bottle of Prosecco shaped like a Champagne bottle and capped with a wire cage like Champagne, you can bet it is spumante. If it is cork-sealed, and perhaps finished with a neatly-tied string rather than a wire cage, it is frizzante. Generally, you want the full 'mante.

Conveniently, most Proseccos are labeled brut or extra dry. As with Champagne, brut is the driest; extra dry actually has a touch of sweetness. I find that it is a welcome touch that can lift the aromas of fresh peaches and citrus, and soften any bitter edge to the acids.

Anyone lucky enough to visit Venice probably has been introduced to the city's most famous drink, the Bellini, a mix of Prosecco and fresh, puréed white peaches. The great thing about Prosecco is that it is casual enough and cheap enough to mix with fruit juice or purée (be inventive; peaches are a good starting place, but not mandatory). The bad thing about Prosecco is that much of what is widely available is simple and pleasant, but generic. Most are indistinguishable one from another.

But Prosecco is capable of more. At its best, it can nicely mingle peach, apricot, citrus and green apple fruit flavors, lifted with naturally tart acidity and topping out at just 11.5 percent alcohol. It is most often served well-chilled as an aperitif in tall flutes; Bellinis look (and taste) great in martini glasses. When drinking brut Prosecco, you'll find it works as well as Champagne with a nice variety of rice and pasta dishes; anything that you might wish to accent with citrus.

Well-known producers who do a very good job include Desiderio Bisol, Nino Franco, Mionetto and Zardetto; these last two are widely available. Mionetto's inexpensive, crown-sealed (beer-bottle capped) "Il" Prosecco is sweet and simple but charming in its way; the rosé version is sweeter and fruitier.

We are particularly fortunate to have two importers — Small Vineyards and Gregorio Wine Selections — who specialize in Italian wines. Both are headquartered in the Seattle area; both are bringing in superb Proseccos from less well-known producers.

Paul Gregutt is the author of "Northwest Wines." His column appears weekly in the Food & Wine section.