Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Prosecco party.


On Saturday night I went to a Prosecco and Whiskey party at the house of my new friends Jennifer and Temil. Cocktails were aplenty, made by a beautiful professional bartender, Lindsey of Beso. I had the "James Bond" (pictured above), a blend of Zonin Prosecco, bitters, sugar, campari and vodka with a sugar rim. Yowzers! Mama did not drive home! 

I think Prosecco is great on its own, but its perfect for mixing too because its so much less expensive than Champagne and adds a wee sweetness. Zonin is both perfumed and earthy, and has that amylic flavor (aka floral / pear drop) that Prosecco is known for. 

If you're at all curious, amylic esters are produced during the fermentation process which is the opposite of methode champenoise, where the secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle. Prosecco is made by the Charmat Method, where the secondary fermentation takes place in large tanks and is bottled under some serious pressure. The Champagne method produces far more complex wines, but who wants Champagne every day anyway? (well, I do I guess, but that's beside the point)

Zonin is available at Mission Wines in Pasadena for $12 a bottle. 

A little tip: Always serve Prosecco super cold or it's slightly bitter flavors come out.  

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Zonin Prosec is available at Trader Joe's for $5.99 a bottle & has been for eons.

Amy said...

well, then that's the first good wine I've had from Trader Joe's. Of course I did mix it with a lot of sugar and vodka. I guess its hard to say...