Sip & Swirl: Prosecco is great for holiday entertaining | Bakersfield life

While French champagne is a blend of pinot noir, chardonnay, and pinot meunier, terroir-driven prosecco is made exclusively from the glera grape, grown in a specific region of Italy. It is lighter, very effervescent, but like good Champagne, capable of delivering complex fruity flavors.

Among a plethora of good prosecco available, the Valdo Numero 10 Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG caught my eye as one of the few single vintage releases produced Metodo Classico, also known as the traditional method of champagne. While most Prosecco is fermented in sealed stainless steel tanks, the 100% Glera “Numero 10” grape goes through 10 to 12 months of bottle refermentation before disgorging and additional aging before release.

The concept of creating prosecco in the classic Champagne method was an idea conceived in 2004 by the Bolla family, who have owned and operated Valdo since 1926. I recently had the opportunity to have lunch with Valdo’s business development manager, Matteo Bolla, who is the fifth generation of the family that has been producing wines from the Valdobbiadene region for over a century.

To explore prosecco’s compatibility with food, we tasted four vintages of Valdo “Numero 10” with dishes served at Sens restaurant in San Francisco. Before the first lesson, I asked Matteo about the origin of the name “Numero 10”. Without hesitation, he replied that there are 10 grams of sugar per liter, 10 tons of grapes produced per hectare, that every wine goes through 10 months of re-fermentation in the bottle and that’s a “10”, like Bo Derek in the 1979 Romantic Comedy.

Floral and fruity notes with hints of toast, is how Matteo described his prosecco as we tasted the 2019 Vintage with grilled octopus, chickpeas, fennel and citrus. The sparkling wine was not overwhelming, but complemented the complex flavor profile of our first course.

The 2016 Millésime was served with Fattoush, a salad of romaine, Persian cucumbers, feta, mint, coated pita, tomatoes, pomegranate and lemon vinaigrette. Ripe nutty and vanilla flavors in the wine softened the complex flavors of the citrus salad and provided a distinctive, lingering finish.

With a deep golden color and aromas of hazelnut and mango, the 2014 Vintage expressed its diversity by pairing perfectly with a spicy paella that included Spanish chorizo, prawns, chicken and saffron rice.

Spent nine years in bottle after disgorging in 2013, the 2011 Vintage added rich flavors of honey and marscapone that stood up to a slice of opulent cheesecake for dessert.

The Valdo Numero 10 Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG sells for $25 to $30 a bottle, slightly more than most releases on US shelves. However, the history and distinct full-bodied flavors of this unique Prosecco are worth considering.

Whatever holiday meals you serve, any prosecco will prove to be a complementary and economical sparkling wine that will please your guests and enhance your table.