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Top 10 Proseccos of 2022
Taking in Extra Brut to Extra Dry, white to pink, and DOC to DOCG, we bring you the top 10 bottles from this year’s Prosecco Masters, which is the largest professional tasting of this popular Italian fizz in the UK.
The following sparkling wines were the top-scoring samples from across a range a categories in the 2022 competition, which featured around 200 Proseccos, all of which were all tasted ‘blind’ over the course of one day in London.
To see all the medalists, click here, and scroll down to view our top 10 of 2022, which include tasting notes from myself and my fellow panel chair, Patricia Stefanowicz MW.
BOSCO DEL MERLO, PROSECCO DOC BRUT MILLESIMATO 2021
Producer: Paladin VP SPA
Residual sugar: 7.5g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £13
Medal: Gold
Produced from grapes grown along the border between the Veneto and Friuli on lime-clay ‘caranto’ soils, the wine is a pale lemon-green colour, with persistent bubbles. Quite lively with white peach fruit and lemon grass and lime zest accents. Well-defined and juicy, the brittle mousse texture gives a little grip leading to a lingering finish with a hint of minerality. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)
MASCHIO DEI CAVALIERI PROSECCO DOC TREVISO EXTRA DRY, NV
Producer: Cantine Maschio
Residual sugar: 13g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £30
Medal: Master
It is hard to fault this particularly fine DOC Prosecco using grapes from the Treviso district and just a touch more sweetness (13g/l) than you find in a Brut style of fizz. There’s plenty of lovely, Glera grape characteristics, from peach and pear, to lemon sherbet and even a hint of dried herbs. The texture, helped by the fine bubbles, is creamy, and the finish is bright.
OMBRE PROSECCO DOC ORGANIC BRUT, NV
Producer: Botter Spa a Socio Unico
Residual sugar: 8g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £20
Medal: Gold
In line with a general upwards trend for organic wines, Proseccos made to the same viticultural strictures are on the rise, and Botter makes an excellent example under its Ombre label. It’s quite dry and chalky by Prosecco standards, being at the low end of a Brut sugar level (less than 12 g/l), which makes for a refreshing apéritif, and a good option for delicate seafood dishes. In terms of flavours, there’s a zesty character, complemented by peach and pear fruit, and a peppery edge, along with a fine persistent fizz.
ASOLO PROSECCO SUPERIORE DOCG GIUSTI EXTRA BRUT, NV
Producer: Giusti Wine
Residual sugar: 0g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £35
Medal: Gold
It’s extremely rare to find an Extra Brut Prosecco, which is the driest form, with 6g/l of sugar or lower, and even rarer to find a really good one. But here is a delicious example of a bone-dry Prosecco that offers the chalky refreshment of a sugarless fizz – and, should you be want it, a lower calorie content too. The flavours range from ripe orange to pear, fresh apple and bitter almond, making for a layered and fruity drop, albeit one with a slightly hard finish – something a bit of sweetness would soften.
THE EMISSARY ASOLO PROSECCO SUPERIORE DOCG BRUT, 2021
Producer: Bedin
Residual
sugar:
8g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £17.99
Medal: Master
‘Asolare’ is a verb that means ‘to disport in the open air, to amuse oneself at random’. And this is indeed a wine that insists one do so. Displaying a luminous pale lemon-green colour and tiny bubbles, the wine has pristine white cherry and yellow plum fruits with a delicate overlay of fresh bread. The precise mid-weight palate shows welldefined fruit, and is framed by lively acidity and creamy-textured mousse. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)
VALDOBBIADENE DOCG MILLESIMATO DRY, 2021
Producer: Col Vetoraz Spumanti
Residual sugar: 24g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £25
Medal: Gold
Located in the steeply sloping hillsides of San Pietro di Barbozza in the best sub-zone of Valdobbiadene, these vineyards yield an exceptional wine. Pale lemon in colour and rather frothy, its nose exhibits exuberant orchard fruits with smoky, herbal accents. Off-dry in style with crisp acidity and a pink grapefruit nuance, the wine is ‘whistle-clean’ across the palate with very good length and a savoury finish. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)
SPUMANTE PROSECCO SUPERIORE DOCG CONEGLIANO VALDOBBIADENE MILLESIMATO BRUT, 2021
Producer: Fattoria Conca d’Oro
Residual sugar: 12g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £35
Medal: Master
Located a little southwest of Valdobbiadene on limestonedominant soils, Fattoria Conca d’Oro produces this superb vintage Prosecco. Like most Valdobbiadene Prosecco wines, this is a delicate wine, pale lime-green in colour with persistent tiny bubbles. Elegant with green, gently grapey fruit and soft white peach and hints of fresh bread showing ageing on yeast lees, the wine is off-dry and easy-drinking. But the depth of vibrant fruit and spice accents are balanced by brisk acidity and moderate weight giving extra interest. (Patricia Stefanowicz MW)
BISOL 1542, VALDOBBIADENE SUPERIORE DI CARTIZZE DOCG, 2021
Producer: BISOL1542
Residual sugar: 25g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £31
Medal: Master
It’s not often sold outside Italy, but Cartizze is the ultimate Prosecco, hailing from a hillside in the heart of the Valdobbiadene that yields powerfully flavoured wines, usually with a high price. Among such rarefied expressions, Bisol is a master, crafting a Cartizze with pure fruit, mouth-filling sweetness, and palate-cleansing zestiness. As for the flavours, there’s bitter almond and basil, white peach and ripe pear, a creamy-textured fizz, and a chalk and grapefruit finish. It’s indulgent, as well as refreshing, making it hard to sip slowly.
FIOL PROSECCO DOC ROSÉ, 2021
Producer: FIOL
Residual sugar: 15g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £22.61
Medal: Gold
Fiol – a consistent Gold-medal winner in our Prosecco Masters – has brought out a brilliant pink variant to complement its fine white sparkling wines. There’s a crowd-pleasing dollop of juicy ripe strawberry-like flavour from the Pinot Noir added to give this fizz its pretty pale pink colour, followed by notes of peach and pear, and some citrus zest, even a touch of chalk, to offset the gently sweet, fruity mid-palate. In short, this is clean, bright, slightly-candied, and easy-to-drink Prosecco Rosato.
DELLA VITE PROSECCO DOC ROSÉ MILLESIMATO 2021
Producer: Foss Marai
Residual sugar: 13.5g/l
Approx. UK retail price: £24.95
Medal: Master
Made by the first-rate Prosecco maker Foss Marai for the Delevingne sisters, who launched the Della Vita brand in 2020, this is its newly introduced pink variant – and it’s good. Salmon pink in appearance, with rose petal, cherry jam and white-peach aromatics, it looks and smells inviting. It doesn’t disappoint in the mouth either, with juicy red berries, a hint of bubblegum, floral notes and orchard fruit. Mixing ripe characters and zesty fresh notes too, it’s a beautifully balanced Prosecco rosé.
About the competition
With high-quality judges and a unique sampling process, The Global Prosecco Masters provides a chance for your wines to star.
The 2022 competition was judged on 26 April at 28-50 Chelsea, employing experienced judges. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding in their field received the ultimate accolade – the title of Prosecco Master. This report features the medal winners only.
Please visit The Global Masters website for more information, or, to enter future competitions – giving you the chance to feature online and in print – please call: +44 (0) 20 7803 2420 or email Sophie Raichura at: sophie@thedrinksbusiness.com
Read more
The medal-winners from The Prosecco Masters 2022
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