The origins of the name Prosecco: why it is called this way and how this wine is born

Prosecco is among the most consumed bubbles in Italy and in the world. Perfect as an aperitif, it also goes well with fresh and appetizing dishes, so much so that there are also those who do not disdain it with desserts! In summer, then, it is a real treat. But how is Prosecco born, what are its origins and why is it called just like that? Let's see it together.

The origins of the name Prosecco: everything starts from a municipality in Friuli Venezia Giulia

It seems that the origins of Prosecco wine, with the name by which we know it today, date back to the end of the 16th century, when this name was given to sparkling wine for the first time. In particular, the definition is given to the castellum nobile Pucinum wine, identified with the castle of Prosecco, a municipality in the Friuli province of Trieste. The wine "Pucinum", that is Puccino, according to some written evidence of the time, was extremely appreciated already at the time of the Romans (so much that Pliny the Elder also speaks of it in his Naturalis Historia and it seems it was the favorite wine of the empress Livia, wife of Augustus). Subsequently, between the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Prosecco vine widened from the Friulian belt to the Venetian hills. A curiosity: the term "Prosecco" as we know it referred to wine, appears for the first time precisely in this period, in 1754, in a poem, "Il Roccolo Ditirambo", written by Valeriano Canati.

The first bottled Prosecco: that of Carpené-Malvolti

At the beginning of the 19th century Francesco Maria Malvolti, a winemaker interested in the development of sparkling wines, already pointed out in a speech at the Conegliano Academy "how interesting and exquisite their Prosecco were" (he mentioned them together with the Bianchetti and Moscatelli).

Subsequently, in 1868 Antonio Carpené also included Malvolti in the company he founded (Società Enologica Trevigiana) in the production of Prosecco. It is perhaps from this date that Prosecco begins to be known, promoted and appreciated as a wine in the modern sense and as we currently know it. Carpené and Malvolti also founded the Wine School, within which the famous Conegliano-Valdobbiadene sparkling method was born: a sort of Charmat method, with wine refermented together with native yeasts and sugars for at least a month in an autoclave. Perhaps not everyone knows that there is a substantial difference between the different types of Prosecco. There is the least alcoholic one, which is sparkling Prosecco, which never exceeds 9% vol. Then there is the one called "quiet", which has an alcohol content always within 10.5% vol. Finally, Prosecco Spumante, which starts from a minimum of 11% vol., Therefore the most alcoholic of all.

The other stages of a glorious history: from the Prosecco road to the DOCG

In the 1960s (1966, to be precise) the first Italian wine route was created: the Prosecco route. It is an itinerary along all the vines of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, which still remains an essential destination for lovers of bubbles, which then also became the first sparkling wine district in Italy. The highest recognition of Prosecco as a wine was in August 2009, when the famous Conegliano Valdobbiadene sparkling wine obtained the DOCG, Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin. Already thirty years earlier, in 1969, the DOC recognition had arrived for Prosecco produced in the same perimeter of the territory. Also in 2009, it must be said, all Prosecco production in the nine provinces between Trieste and Vicenza is awarded the DOC brand. This wine has also been rewarded by consumers through sales. In fact, between the years 2005 and 2010 an exponential growth in the consumption of Prosecco began, so much so that in 2013 for the first time its sale exceeded that of French Champagne in the world.