It all seems so simple, doesn’t it?
You buy your bottle of Prosecco, bring it home, and pop it in the fridge to chill. Later on in the night, you take the Prosecco out of the fridge, pop the cork, and perhaps place it in an ice bucket. For the rest of the night, you have a gorgeous, chilled, premium Italian sparkling white wine to enjoy with your friends and family, or perhaps just for yourself if you’re feeling a little fruity.
What could be simpler?
Prosecco is the most popular Italian wine around, so surely there can’t be many mistakes that you could make when drinking it. And frankly, just popping the cork and pouring a glass is more than enough for you to enjoy a wonderful experience.
But what if you want that experience to be perfect?
What if you want to enjoy a Prosecco that exemplifies exactly what it means to be the world’s favourite Italian wine?
If that’s the case, you need to make sure you’re avoiding all of the little mistakes that people make with their Prosecco. And after reading this article, that’s exactly what you’re going to be able to do.
Let’s look at some Prosecco mistakes to avoid.
Mistake #1 – The Wrong Glass
Prosecco is a sparkling white wine.
Of course, we all know that the most famous sparkling wine is Champagne. And of course, we also know that there’s a special glass designed especially for drinking Champagne – the flute.
So, it all seems so obvious.
Prosecco goes in a Champagne flute.
The wine has most of the same properties as Champagne. So, it stands to reason that you should use the same glass as you would for Champagne.
Except you shouldn’t!
The problem with flutes is that they’re great for maintaining a sparkling wine’s fizziness but they’re terrible for releasing the bouquet. So, you get the fizz for a little longer but you lose the sensory experience of allowing your nose to be awash in all of the gorgeous fragrances of your Prosecco.
That’s now what you want.
So, the best glass for your Prosecco is actually the tulip style of glass.
This type of wine glass is still high and slender, just like a Champagne flute is. However, the glass has a “bulb” at the top, much like a tulip bulb, that can catch the wine’s aroma to ensure that you’re getting the full experience from the bouquet. Now, you may have to search in some specialty wine stores to get your hands on this type of glass. But if you want to get the most out of your Prosecco, there’s no better option.
Mistake #2 – You Put the Prosecco in the Fridge
We already talked about this!
As soon as you bring your Prosecco home, you pop it in the fridge so that it can chill for when you’re ready to drink it. Again, it all seems so logical, so how could it possibly be a mistake.
The reason?
Putting a wine in the fridge could lead to the cork drying out.
To prevent this from happening, you should store the wine in a cool and dark location until you’re ready to serve. When you do want to drink, prepare a bucket with some ice inside that you can use to chill the wine. Give it an hour or so and you have a chilled wine waiting for you.
Now, there is a little caveat to this mistake.
If you’re intending to drink your wine almost as soon as you’ve bought it, then storing in the fridge is absolutely fine. A day or two isn’t going to cause your Prosecco’s cork to dry out. It’s when you’re intending to store your Prosecco for a few weeks before drinking that the fridge becomes a no-no.
Mistake #3 – You’re Twisting the Cork
This isn’t a mistake that only applies to Prosecco.
However, it’s a mistake that so many Prosecco drinkers make.
When you’re trying to pop the cork, you get a good grip of it, or insert a corkscrew, and you twist the cork. And again, this method gets results. However, it also creates the possibility of the cork coming apart as you twist. Plus, you may lose control of the cork, causing it to fly off as soon as it pops.
The correct technique is the grip the cork and then twist the bottle. Not only does twisting the bottle give you more purchase, allowing you to release the cork faster, but it also reduces the possibility of you damaging the cork’s integrity and having parts of it falling into your wine.
Mistake #4 – The Wrong Pouring Angle
You want your Prosecco inside your glass as quickly as possible.
We get it.
Prosecco is an amazing Italian wine and you don’t want to wait around by pouring it a specific way. You want it out of the bottle and into your glass as fast as possible. And again, there’s nothing wrong with that…
As long as you’re happy to lose a little bit of fizz.
Pouring at too high an angle causes your Prosecco to lose some of its fizz due to extra exposure to oxygen as you pour.
How do you avoid this problem?
Always pour with the bottle held at 45 degrees.
Start by pouring a small amount into the glass, allowing the wine and bubbles to settle. With your little “base” of wine ready, hold your bottle at 45 degrees and pour slowly until the glass is about three-quarters full. If your wine starts fizzing up, you’re going too fast.
The Final Word
And with that, you have four key mistakes that most people make when drinking Prosecco.
None of these are world-ending mistakes. You’re still going to get to enjoy an amazing drink, no matter how you store, pour, and open your bottle. But by avoiding these mistakes, you get to enjoy your Prosecco how it’s meant to be enjoyed. And that means getting the best possible experience for your money.
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