Wine news: Two Italian boys prosecco launch
Nick Guglielmino and Stefano Marciano – definitely two Italian boys!
There’s always something happening in beautiful downtown Melbourne with food and wine choices galore. Greedy Girl and gluttonous husband were invited to the launch of a new prosecco and jumped at the offer.
Prosecco is a specific style of Italian sparkling wine that hails from the north of that very fine country, in the Veneto region. It’s quite different from champagne in that it’s usually fermented in a tank before bottling and doesn’t, generally, have a secondary fermentation in the bottle. The best prosecco is said to have a light fizz and easy drinking with light snacks as an aperitif or maybe with seafood. In short, it’s excellent warm weather drinking.
Prosecco has certainly gained more currency in Australia in recent times. Greedy Girl is mining her memory to try to remember the first time she was exposed to Prosecco in Australia but suspects it’s not a huge number of years.
Unlike champagne (which must be produced in that region to have the right to use the name), prosecco doesn’t have the same brand protection. Indeed, a number of producers across the world are growing the grape and making their own. Victoria’s King Valley region (roughly three hours’ drive north of Melbourne) is a local leader. But Greedy Girl digresses. Here she talks to 2 Italian boys director Nick Guglielmino about his wine and why prosecco has gained such a big following.
What are the characteristics of a good prosecco?
We source our fruit from Italy, because we’re following the ‘champagne model’ – we want it to be from the region. Ours is from the high-altitude area, from Valdobbiadene, where prosecco was born. We like it to be extra-dry. Ours also has a soft sweetness on the palate with about 6-7 grams of residual (sugar) a litre. Prosecco fruit has a bit more natural sweetness, but you also want it to be dry and crisp.
What advice would you give someone drinking prosecco for the first time?
I’d like to think it’s a drier alternative to champagne. It’s probably more uplifting; there are more cleansing notes on the palate, like stone fruit, even some poached pear. It’s quite approachable for a first-time sparkling drinker.
What foods go best with prosecco?
I think it’s more of an aperitif-style drink, so it’s better for small dishes. At our launch (at Melbourne’s Brunetti cafe in Carlton) we put out salami, paninis, little pizza and pasta dishes, light salads and fish. It definitely works well as a summertime drink, even at lunchtime.
Salads with walnuts
Arancini and veal meatballs at the launch at Brunetti
How long has your project been in the works?
We’ve been on the road now for three years with our brand but the prosecco is new. We produce 12 wines altogether but prosecco is our first dry sparkling. Given our Italian origins, we kept getting a big demand for it from restaurants in particular, although we’re offering a small amount via retail outlets too. This is our second vintage and I think we’ve really lifted the quality.
Is it only available in Australia?
Yes, we’re only distributing here at the moment. We have had some interest from the US and we’re looking at possibly having a licensing setup to have the wine produced in Italy and then distributed from there. At the moment, though, we’re looking to get it really established well here.
More information about Two Italian Boys can be found here.
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