Many years have passed since my childhood, but I still remember my entire family gathering around the table when we celebrated every anniversary with the effervescence of Italian sparkling wine.  In those moments, I remember  my grandfather telling me every time “Roberto, now we open the enjoyable bottle.” It was the bottle that my father always chose for these special occasions.

The “enjoyable bottle” was always a ritual that opened the Christmas dinner, the toast of the New Year, the Easter lunch and all birthday celebrations.  On these occasions, my grandfather secretly let me wet my lips with  his glass, so that I could participate with all relatives in the toast to open lunch.

I could feel the tickle of the fine bubbles on the tongue and appreciate the perfume of apple and bread fragrance. These are the memories that mark those times.  Memories that are characterized by the image of this product intertwined with the people, the places, and  ones own emotions; memories  that immutably recur during the course of ones own life and giving again the pleasure experienced as before.

The “enjoyable bottle” for my grandfather was the Prosecco Carpenè Malvolti.  Each region of our beautiful peninsula has its own sparkling wine, vinified using the traditional method (secondary fermentation in the bottle) or with the Martinotti method (secondary fermentation in stainless steel tanks).  The winemaker follows with extreme care the stages of production. He is very careful in the choice of yeast, as well as very carefully selecting the choice of vines planted on the ground by the agronomist.

A great synergy is in order to obtain a fine wine with refined elegance in perfume, fine perlage and excellent organoleptic properties.  This has made possible today the great success that the Italian sparkling Prosecco, Franciacorta and Muscat is having around the world.  Today, the quality of the Italian “bubbles” has improved a lot compared to some decades ago.

Last night, in the company of some friends, I opened two bottles of Italian sparkling wine. The first was Prosecco Superiore DOCG – Couvée Storica, and the other was Cartizze Valdobbiadene Superiore DOCG; both wines produced by Carpenè Malvolti of Conegliano (TV).

The first one to serve as an aperitif, and the second one to accompany the pastries after the meal.

The “Couvée Stiorica“ is an extra dry wine, yellow in color with bright green hues, and a keen and persistent perlage. The scent of apple stands out clearly, accompanied by notes of citrus and grass. In the mouth stands a pleasant acidity and persistent effervescence, intense and balanced.

Cartizze expresses a pale yellow color with a fine perlage and intensity. Very obvious are the scents of white fruits and pink grapefruit. The floral notes release aromas of acacia and rose. The first sip confirms the aromas perceived by the nose, adding a good dose of bread fragrance, composed and balanced.

If my grandfather had been with us to toast the pleasant evening, he certainly would have said:

“Roberto, now we open the enjoyable bottle!”