Alan Tardi, US Ambassador of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG, conducted a special seminar and tasting in a packed ballroom of the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC during the Society of Wine Educators’ 40^th annual conference. Following a brief summary of Prosecco’s history (ancient and modern), the critical regulatory events of 2009, the diverse Conegliano Valdobbiadene growing area, and highlights of the DOCG Prosecco appellation, participants tasted a lineup of exceptional wines demonstrating particular features of this unique wine growing area.

The tasting began with the rare opportunity of sampling four still wines representing the four major indigenous grape varieties of Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco: Glera, Verdiso, Perera  and Bianchetta Trevigiana.

Following this was a Prosecco Superiore sourced entirely from 80- to 100-year old vines of Glera, Verdiso and Bianchetta in the steep hills of Valdobbiadene; a Prosecco Superiore made from a single-parcel located in Colbertaldo; a Prosecco Superiore that underwent its secondary fermentation in bottle in the traditional fashion without disgorgement; and an unusual brut from the famed Cartizze area that had its secondary fermentation in bottle with disgorgement (classic method). To round out the event was a 1992 vintage Prosecco that certainly disproved the widely held notion that Prosecco must be consumed young.