I’m an agricultural economist here in Italy, and Prosecco is one of the big topics in both positive (great example of scale economy and marketing success) and negative (environmental impact of intensive agriculture; kind of a financial bubble…) terms. Prosecco in Italy is mostly appreciated in northern regions, even though consumers are starting to “get bored” and look for alternatives.
What’s the reputation of Prosecco in your country? Is it easy to find at supermarkets and wine bars? What’s the average price? Is it commonly consumed or perceived to be something for discussion occasions?
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The UK is the [second biggest consumer of Prosecco in the world](https://www.bottledandboxed.com/buying-guides/guide/the-popularity-of-prosecco-what-sparked-the-uks-craze-for-this-italian-sparkling-wine), after Italy. It is perceived as an uncomplex yet tasty drink, at a relatively low price-point (I say, whilst noting that one of the primary reasons why I seldom ever drink alcohol, especially wine, is the cost of it all…). Hence its enduring, literally massive popularity here.
Is the agricultural side of prosecco different than other wines etc?
Afaik that’s not a discussion topic here. Meat and dairy, yes. Wine, no.
Switzerland: We always have some *Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore* in our fridge, so imply the answer 🙂
Prosecco is seen as a cheap alternative to champagne in Ireland. We use it as a celebration drink or aperitif. Love it with a bit of Crème de cassis or other sweet liquor.
Not in Europe .. I’m in New York in the US but we love Italian Prosecco and it’s very popular here.
It’s seen as a cheaper version of champagne here. You can find it basically anywhere that sells alcohol.
Cheap champagne substitute.
Cava is the even cheaper substitute.
At least in understanding, it’s seen as just a type of sparkling wine, albeit popular one. It’s especially much available in Alko (state owned liquor stores) during summer. It’s been sort of trendy, but I think people are past that now
It’s quite popular in Poland, you can buy it almost everywhere. In Lidl and Biedronka (the biggest discount grocery store chain here) the cheapest one is less than 30 zÅ‚, so around 7€, which is a good price.
In restaurants, at least in bigger cities, prosecco and aperol are a staple.
It’s considered a middle-class kind of drink, almost nobody drinks Champaign casually.
The environmental aspects if wine producing isn’t really something talked about often.
We have cava and prosecco is seen as inferior, so it’s not very popular.
Massively popular, my aunt’s a huge fan. It became popular as a somewhat cheaper alternative to Champagne, which in my view is odd as there’s a French sparkling wine called ‘Blanquette de Limoux’ which is even older (and cheaper) than Champagne but never really marketed itself well enough to become as popular.
It’s just a good, slightly cheaper bubbly drink considering that real champagne is pretty expensive. If you want to celebrate, champagne is 50+€ per bottle, prosecco or cava is like 15-20€.
I had no idea about environmental impacts and such.
I was on a date some 15 years ago, traveling on a night train from Paris to Rome. Got there early morning, enjoyed the day wandering around. All that seems beside the point, still…
We went to that fancy place, best I could afford to please her and we ordered that Red Prosecco, garçon poured some in her glass for testing. She had a nice mouthful sip of it and immediately spat the whole thing over, like a geyser.
She wasn’t expecting the bubbles effect, we laughed it off but the waiter wasn’t happy.
Every time I buy one I can’t help but think of that very awkward moment. We stayed together for over 8 years. Rosie…
In Montenegro, Italian prosecco is the most popular prosecco. How it stands compared to other types of alcohol is a different convo 🙂
Its very common here, mainly with women. My missus drinks it like water whenever we go out. The Lidl prosecco is a particularly big hit at €10 a bottle.
It’s very common in Lithuania, you’ll find it in every grocery store here and probably most bars. We don’t really have exclusive *wine* bars here as far as I know, biggest wine selection is usually found in fancier restaurants and cocktail bars.
I don’t know if that’s interesting you at all but prosecco magically appeared in Poland a couple of years ago and since then if there is party and there are girls they are going to drink it, period. Before that no one even know about such alcohol.
IMO, it’s mostly a drink for youngish to middle-aged women when they get together. It’s a “respectable” way to get tipsy, either during daylight hours or early evening.
It’s also served sometimes as a slightly fancy morning/afternoon celebration drink, like if you just graduated uni or got a job promotion or are having a birthday party or whatever. It’s obviously cheaper than champagne. I guess it competes with Sekt more than champagne though.
This is just my experience/perception. The drink itself is totally fine, I have no complaints and will accept a glass, it’s just not something I ever reach for honestly. Although, I do remember now when my wife was pregnant we sometimes had an alcohol-free version (yea, I know…) so she could *Prost!* too.
I have never heard of Prosecco. I come from a wine region in South Moravia and drink mostly locally produced wines.
It’s mostly drunk with Aperol or in Italian restaurants where I’m from but people would usually drink crémant in France rather than imported sparkling wine as a substitute for champagne.
It tastes much better than champagne, which I hate, but I still prefer our fruit wines(especially local blackcurrant one).
It’s what we use for mixers and cocktails instead of champagne. It’s available basically in every store and bar.
Where I live in the US Prosecco is a lovely summer drink for a reasonable price. I always have a few bottles on hand for late afternoon aperitifs. It’s also often used in drinks like Mimosas. Champagne is very expensive so in my demographic it’s for special occasions only.
Cheap champagne would be the general view in Ireland I think. You get champagne for proper fancy events or celebrations and Prosecco is more so just a casual drink if you like sparkling wine.
As a Turkish living in Trieste,i can totally say that prosecco culture is non-existent in Turkey i have just seen prosecco in some niche places that sells it.
Here in Portugal you will find it only at the Lidl. I imagine it sells, or else it wouldn’t be there, but it serves a similar niche as some other (and much better) Portuguese wines that sit at the same price range. So other that the motivation of trying something more exotic, I don’t see any reason to buy it over a cheap Vinho Verde, that has a similar profile.
*p.s. – se vuoi parlare di più, con qualcuno che è anche un agronomo e se è Laureato in Italia, manda mi una PM.*
It’s really taking off here in Ireland, there’s a growing range available at extremely reasonable prices in lots of outlets.
Personally, I love it! It’s my new favourite alcoholic drink.
There was a big hype in Slovakia a few years ago, about the same time Slovaks discovered Aperol Spritz. I like local alternatives more, but it seems people are easily convinced by marketing. It was advertised as the most delicious drink.
We have a name dispute with italy since we have Prošek, which is a completely different type of wine, also called Prosecco abroad. Otherwise I have no experience with it (but I rarely drink).
It’s considered cheap, a lot of people will only buy the sweet versions or for mixing.
I’ve tasted a couple dry versions and I enjoyed them. They truly aren’t particularly exciting, but they all seemed quality, with nice aroma and no undesirable flavours.
Italian living in Paris here. You can find it in most supermarkets, price is between 5-9€ per bottle. They drink it almost exclusively in Spritz, which is very trendy recently. Of course French connoisseurs will tell you that they’d prefer a local product, but they look as a minority to me. In Paris you will find Spritz on every terrace starting from spring. It’s appreciated especially among students and tourists.
The to-go drink for boring middle-aged housewives and boring middle-aged gays!
Prosecco is thought of as a cheaper champagne alternative, and with it being sweeter appeals more to women. There’s a bit of class snobbery about it as well. Cava is another cheaper champagne but doesn’t have the same reputation as Prosecco.
While I was living in my country, I never drank it. And no one ever mentioned it.
Wines are ok, beer is the most popular beverage, and then all the heavy alcoholic drinks from regional to foreign.
Extremely common in Ireland.
I would say it’s reputation has improved over the years.
I’m an old bollox and have screwed my body over through drinking. However in Ireland I see that Prosecco is extremely popular with the young and the middle classes. I saw a post from an English man saying Moet is around £20 and Prosecco is around £7. In Ireland bog standard Moet and Chandon is around €50 while an average Prosecco is around €15. While I drink all types of booze Prosecco would give me instant heartburn and that would include 20 plus euro bottles but decent Champagne doesn’t. Moet does give me heartburn also.
Not popular at all.
We have “cava” our national equivalent of champagne. It is cheap already, and in my opinion better.
My impression is that it peaked maybe 5 years or so ago in Germany? Everybody was drinking Prosecco on every occasion. I think that changed a bit now. I personally never understood the Prosecco-craze – I hate it and I think it is cheaply produced and poor quality. Hate the taste. Sorry for the rant!
Not Europe: prosecco is very popular here in New Zealand. It is available as a standalone sparkling wine as a foreign alternative to the domestic ones from NZ, and as a cheaper alternative to French champagnes. Also made into aperol spritz (which is literally available everywhere, not just Italian restaurants or wine bars)
If you want to buy a bottle home, I think even mass market liquor stores and not just specialty wine shops have it, so it is very widely available.