Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore DOCG
Prosecco DOCG is located in the northeastern Italy in the Veneto wine region. It is Italy’s most widely produced sparkling wine made from the Glera grape.
To buy the best wine for your budget and occasion here are some important things to know about Prosecco when reading a label: There are 5 main quality levels : Prosecco DOC, Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG, Colli Asolani DOCG, Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive DOCG and Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG. The base level sparkling wines are labelled Prosecco DOC. The higher hillier areas, stricter quality standards are from Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG. Colli Asolani DOCG is another smaller hillside region across the river from Conegliano Valdobbiadene. Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore Rive DOCG Rive means “bank” or “slope” in Italian and references 43 hilly area with lower yields within Conegliano-Valdobbiadene that produce exceptional grapes. Lastly Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG are a historical delimited 108 hectares area located right outside of the town of Valdobbiadene with lower yield and only made in the spumante style.
Prosecco is made in what is called the tank method which is the complete opposite of how they make classic traditional method Champagne. Click the above link in my blog for more details on the process. In a nutshell the tank method is used for aromatic grape varieties to preserve their aromas, for large volume production and quick to market products. That does not mean that it’s cheap and not a good sparkling wine. Is it like Champagne? No because that would be like comparing apples and oranges. Both are delicious but completely different sparkling wines. Champagne has developed autolysis (biscuit, pastry, brioche) and tertiary (aging flavors like hazelnut or ginger) with delicate apples and lemon, whereas Prosecco is all about fruit flavors and aromas and zero to little autolysis.
Santa Margherita was founded in 1935 by Gaetano Marzotto who saw the enormous potential in the land for agriculture. The winery was named after his beloved partner Margherita Lampertico Marzotto. Their philosophy is to respond to the needs of their community and to respect the land in every possible way. Wine production, varietal characteristics, and terroir should be in perfect harmony.
Santa Margherita Prosecco Superiore is a pale lemon color. The aromas have a good intensity of pear, lemon, honeysuckle, green apple, lime, white peach, pear drop and green grapes. The palate is off-dry, high acidity, med alcohol, medium body, medium flavor intensity. Flavours of pear, lemon, honeysuckle green apple, lime, white peach pear drop, green grapes are balanced with the creamy fine bubbles..
Pairs well with antipasto, cured meats, almonds, grilled octopus, tempura shrimp or Spicy Asian cuisine.
