Wine Review: Sparkling wine a good fit for holidays

We are rapidly approaching that time of year when we must plan for the upcoming Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's festivities. I sincerely hope the current coronavirus unpleasantness will not too dramatically upset your plans.

Part and parcel of those festivities are the sparkling wines that often are erroneously referred to as champagne. Champagne is a sparkling wine from a specific district in France that usually comes with a fairly hefty price tag. There are, however, other sparkling wines that offer similar elegance and a festive feeling, but they sell for a much more affordable price. One example is an Italian sparkling wine called prosecco.

Champagne, which is made from chardonnay and/or pinot noir grapes, is fermented in the bottle it will be sold in and is very labor intensive. Prosecco wines are made from the native Italian glera grape by the Charmat bulk process. With the Charmat process, the juice is fermented in a closed container and the carbon dioxide produced by fermentation then naturally carbonates the wine.

This process results in an excellent wine that can be produced at a more popular price. Put fine grapes together with the Italian love of wine and you come up with a good fit for the holidays.

La Gioiosa Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Extra Dry ($18)
This fruity offering presents the true extra dry style in all its glories. This selection is not too dry but also not too sweet. It also is a wine that displays all of the beauties and flavors that one seeks in sparkling wine and at a very attractive price. The La Gioiosa Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore is a bright wine with a subtle aroma of pears, apricots, peaches and grilled pineapples. This carries over to the flavor, where it is enhanced by bubbles and continues on to a pleasantly crisp finish.

Valdo Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Cuvee 1926 Extra Dry ($22)
This choice presents a wine that accents tropical fruit flavors and aromas. The flavor of pineapple and peaches predominate with a honey and almond background. There also are familiar yeasty overtones and a crispness matched by few wines. This all-purpose wine should not be reserved strictly for special occasions. It can and should be served with almost any meal and not just dessert.

Sommariva Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Brut ($20)
Here is a high-quality sparkling wine that can stand head and shoulders with the best of them from anywhere in the world at a reasonable price. Two things are immediately noticeable when the wine is poured: its greenish golden color and the constant stream of fine bubbles, both signs of a better wine. The aroma is a compendium of summer flowers with honeysuckle being the most obvious. The flavor is crisp with a pleasant lemon-like flavor backed up by a fresh bread-like sensation that ends in the impression of toasted nuts. All of these aromas are reprised in the flavor with the addition of grapefruit and spice.

Adami Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Bosco Di Gica Brut ($20)
I realize these Italian words may be a mouthful, but the quality makes up for the pronunciation difficulties. This wine is very dry. Mountain grown grapes endow the wine with a creamy melon, citrus and pineapple flavor and aroma. The wine trails off with a yeast and toasted bread aftertaste that lingers in the mouth for a long time. This is a great wine to accompany a winter holiday dinner because it can stand up to ham or turkey, as well as assorted side dishes, sweet or not.

Wine columnist Bennet Bodenstein can be reached at frojhe1@att.net.