My Favorite Prosecco from Iris Vigneti

I first tasted Isabella Spagnolo Rosé Processco 2015 several months ago at Issimo, a wonderful Italian deli, and was enchanted at the first sip.  It’s one of those wines that suddenly brightens your world and makes all things possible.  Really?  Hell yeah!  Learn Italian?  Sure.  Find an Italian girlfriend without your wife knowing and buy an apartment in Rome?  Well, I guess there are limits.  I can’t afford an apartment in Rome right now.  But, you get the picture.

(http://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2016/10/more-than-italian-deli-its-issimo.html)

So, you say, there are lots of Proseccos,  What makes this one so special?  First of all, I’ll say up front, taste is very personal.  Secondly, I have good taste.

So with those two tidbits at the heart of my argument, let’s chat about this luscious bubbly.

The Iris Vigneti is a pretty small winery, surrounded by only 20 hectares, or a little less than 50 acres, near Mareno di Piave, Treviso, Italy.  A little hard to picture?  Think of northeast Italy, about 28 miles north of Venice.  The whole region is Prosecco country, where Glera grapes are queen of the vine.

http://irisvigneti.com

Here’s a note about Italian wines.  You’ll see a designation on the bottles, either DOCG (strictest standards), DOC (less exacting, but still pretty damn strict), and IGT (created because some of the growers couldn’t meet the higher standards). 

Does IGT mean rotgut?  Not at all.  The reasons for not meeting the most strict standards are many, including having a vineyard outside a certain region.  Matter of fact, as with all things, outside the boundaries is where innovation thrives.

Glera is the grape most associated with Prosecco and in fact the grape’s name is sometimes interchangeable with the wine it produces.  Prosecco, by the way, is a village where this style wine originated.  It’s also interesting to note that Prosecco may be either spumante (sparkling), frizzante (semi-sparkling), or tranquillo (still wine).

The Prosecco I love, the Isabella Spagnolo Rosé 2015 bears the name of one of the owners, a statuesque Italian blond.  Iris Vigneti’s winemaker and co-owner, Loris Casonato created a wine that is just as beautiful.  Light as taffeta, fruity, and soft on the palate, with a smoothly rounded, bubbly finish.  It’s a dry, spumante Prosecco, yet without even a touch of harshness.  On the label, you will notice a word, millesimato.  The m word means the grapes were selected meticulously from a single harvest, and only the very best grapes were pressed to make this wine.

Listen, I don’t want to overplay this hand, but Iris Vigneti’s Isabella Spagnolo Rosé 2015 is the finest Prosecco I’ve tasted.  Not only have I never seen anyone turn down a glass, I’ve never seen anyone turn down another glass!

So, have a glass or two or three!  Make all things possible! Salute!  Can cin!