They call it a legend

[vc_row full_screen_section_height=”no”][vc_column][vc_column_text]It is Prosecco, a wine that no one would have bet on until the mid-Nineties and which instead managed to conquer unthinkable market niches, even overturning the stronghold of bubbles par excellence, Paris, and becoming the symbol of a way of being and staying rather than a geographically located product, “an international brand in its own right” in the words of Zachary Sussman.

This is the great strength of Prosecco but also its Achilles heel:
the ability to be a wine accessible to all, which does not frighten hearts or wallets and does not require a service label, so much so that in 2016 Champagne – partly due to competition with Prosecco and the threat of Brexit – achieved its third worst result, after 2009 and 2013, according to statements by Vincent Perrin, general director of the Comité Champagne, released to Decanter.

Prosecco is a wine that thanks to globalization has become international, bordering on a commodity, a wine-based Coca Cola, whose popularity can be well weighed based on the number of imitations it has been subjected to: from German Sekts, to Più Seccos, to our own attempt at an Asti Secco. There were 140 attempts at Prosecco Sounding silenced in 2016 by the Prosecco System – the body that brings together the three Consortia for issues of protection and defense against third parties – and more than 500 online violations suppressed by the Fraud Repression in the space of two years. To the phenomenon of Prosecco sounding we must add the actual cultivation of Glera, much more threatening and often carried out by emigrants of Italian origin, in countries such as New Zealand, Brazil – where Prosecco is a registered trademark – and Australia.

Prosecco is a market that is tempting to many, thanks to its profitability, which has sparked many controversies, often with low blows, which in order to gain an audience have used easy picklocks, such as the alleged pollution of the air and soil in the production areas. A fact, which if in the past made of herbicides sprayed from helicopters could be criticized, today must be weighed more carefully. The increase in organic but also a more sustainable approach in the vineyard is limiting this conflict and instead makes viticulture a linchpin for the local economy and not only for individual producers, enriching the restaurant and hospitality sector and the population as a whole.

Certainly, the danger of monoculture must be taken into consideration and today the greatest challenge for Prosecco remains that of managing to keep this infatuation alive for as long as possible – and in this process the application for admission of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene hills as a UNESCO heritage site proves far-sighted – managing to manage the numbers in favor of costs, for an all-round growth in value.

[/ Vc_column_text] [/ vc_column] [/ vc_row]