A big glass at that. On my last night in Italy recently, I went ambling out from my hotel on an early evening with the temperature around ninety accompanied by plenty of uncomfortable humidity in an attempt to snag an initial dinner spot in one of the better restaurants near the historic center of the small town of Conegliano; my e-mails requesting a reservation at maybe the best one went unanswered for the second day in a row. My first choice was to open at 6:30 according Google, and I wanted to grab a glass of wine or two beforehand in a smart wine bar of which several assuredly existed within a block or two or so. After all, Conegliano is the home of first school of viticulture and enology in Italy and a base for the prosecco region, a wine style that originated there.
These certain-to-exist wine bars either were not near the old part of town, not what I envisioned or not open around 5:30. So, I continued to walk toward the restaurant in mind. It was warm. After absorbing some more of the weather, I decided to stop into a bar that didn’t appear too promising at first glance, but it was open and it had some semblance of air conditioning. Bar Ciotta’s. Serendipitous, as it turned out. Just opening, the owner was friendly, energetic, evidently passionate about food and wine, thankfully spoke much more English than I did of Italian, and had a really neat short list of wines on a chalkboard on the wall.
Still sweating, I ordered a glass of the Piazza Extra Dry Prosecco for all of €3 for a substantial pour in a large wine glass. I usually prefer Extra Dry for Prosecco, especially on a hot day. It is just slightly sweeter than the ubiquitous Brut, with typically 12 to 17 grams per liter of residual sugar versus less than 10. The folks at the informative Wine Folly site seem to agree: “if you haven’t had an Extra Dry Prosecco yet, this style offers a great balance between Prosecco’s fruit, tingly acidity, and subtle sweetness.”
The Piazza has even a just little more sugar than typical, about 18 grams per liter, but the wine was nicely balanced and still quite dry, with evident acidity and prefaced with a hint of apples on the nose and soft citrus flavors, all of which I found perfect that late afternoon, especially for the price. A second one was necessary. Only 8,000 bottles of this made each year, so it is probably impossible to find here, but Prosecco Extra Dry is something you might want to try, if you enjoy an occasional glass of Prosecco. It seems to go very well with summer weather there and here.
These certain-to-exist wine bars either were not near the old part of town, not what I envisioned or not open around 5:30. So, I continued to walk toward the restaurant in mind. It was warm. After absorbing some more of the weather, I decided to stop into a bar that didn’t appear too promising at first glance, but it was open and it had some semblance of air conditioning. Bar Ciotta’s. Serendipitous, as it turned out. Just opening, the owner was friendly, energetic, evidently passionate about food and wine, thankfully spoke much more English than I did of Italian, and had a really neat short list of wines on a chalkboard on the wall.
Still sweating, I ordered a glass of the Piazza Extra Dry Prosecco for all of €3 for a substantial pour in a large wine glass. I usually prefer Extra Dry for Prosecco, especially on a hot day. It is just slightly sweeter than the ubiquitous Brut, with typically 12 to 17 grams per liter of residual sugar versus less than 10. The folks at the informative Wine Folly site seem to agree: “if you haven’t had an Extra Dry Prosecco yet, this style offers a great balance between Prosecco’s fruit, tingly acidity, and subtle sweetness.”
The Piazza has even a just little more sugar than typical, about 18 grams per liter, but the wine was nicely balanced and still quite dry, with evident acidity and prefaced with a hint of apples on the nose and soft citrus flavors, all of which I found perfect that late afternoon, especially for the price. A second one was necessary. Only 8,000 bottles of this made each year, so it is probably impossible to find here, but Prosecco Extra Dry is something you might want to try, if you enjoy an occasional glass of Prosecco. It seems to go very well with summer weather there and here.
