- Welcome to the land of Prosecco. Our first stop in Italy is to learn about the sparkling wine that's loved around the world, Prosecco. It's drank with aperitivos in the afternoon and meals over sunsets. It's drank here in Venice, the most iconic city in the region all the way through the countrysides of Valdobbiadene where it's made, and that's where we're headed. Welcome to V is for Vino. Let's watch, learn and drink. Crowded alleyways, winding waterways, expansive squares and grand canals, there's no place in the world quite like Venice, Italy. Why am I here? Well, for my journey to the land of bubbles I was gonna need some help from a local. So before heading to Treviso, the subregion of Veneto where the best Prosecco is made, I met with my friend Italian native and fellow sommelier, Tamara, to help show me the ropes and spend a bit of time in the capital city of the region.

- [Tamara] I grew up about 45 minutes outside of Venice.

- [Vincent] So this is all the area of Prosecco?

- [Tamara] Yes.

- [Vincent] But the heart of it is North?

- [Tamara] Correct, exactly. Exactly.

- [Vincent] So you're saying Pro-"say"-co?

- Yes.

- Not Pro-"sec"-co.

- Correct, exactly. Exactly.

- Like my Midwest accent would do it. Okay. We're in Venice. Why does it exist? What is the story behind it?

- It started because people were leaving from the mainland to find a safe place.

- [Vincent] I mean, this place is so unreal. When you go down the grand canal and just seeing the way that they built up the buildings and the architecture on the buildings.

- It's incredible.

- It's stunning.

- There's nothing like that, it's so incredible.

- [Vincent] There's nowhere in the world I've seen this.

- This is called Cafe liscio, which means smooth. And it means that it doesn't have milk or alcohol inside, cuz' you can definitely have espresso with alcohol in it.

- What is it called if it has alcohol in it?

- It's called corretto.

- 'Cause it's correct.

- It's correct, right.

- Tell me about the perception of Prosecco in America versus what it actually is here in Italy?

- It's actually very different. Prosecco in the USA is usually drank as an aperitif before the meal. In Italy Prosecco is drank, sure, before the meal but also throughout the meal.

- [Vincent] And a lot of the Prosecco I feel like we get in America is not as good as the stuff I've had here.

- [Tamara] Yes.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, unfortunately you're correct.

- [Vincent] It's hard to find good Prosecco in America.

- Yes, it is hard to find.

- What's like a typical Italian meal, how many courses, how does it work?

- [Tamara] It's usually four courses.

- Oh, wow.

- So we start with an appetizer and then you have a first course which is usually pasta or risotto or tortellini. And you get a second course which can be meat-based or seafood-based.

- [Vincent] Okay.

- [Tamara] And then of course you have dessert.

- [Vincent] And then you get dessert. And I feel like wine and food culture here is just more celebrated, just generally.

- Yes, absolutely.

- [Vincent] I feel like meals are longer. I feel like there's more attention to detail and it's almost kind of sacred.

- [Tamara] It is sacred, yes. It's extremely important for the Italians to sit down, have a good meal. When you go home in the evening and you sit down for a long meal with your family that's the time in which you share what you've done throughout the day with your family. It's an important part of the day.

- [Vincent] Leaving the hustle and bustle of the city we took the hour drive north through the tranquil winding hills of the Italian countryside to Valdobbiadene, the city at the heart of Prosecco production.

- So what is Prosecco? A place, a grape, a wine? Even if you're fluent in Italian the answer takes a bit to comprehend. Is it a place? Well, yeah, Prosecco refers to a geographical area that includes nine provinces spread across two regions, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia in the northeast of Italy. It includes the little town of Prosecco from which the region got its name. This is the place where Prosecco originated and the only area by law where Prosecco can be made. The Prosecco region can produce up to 600 million bottles a year which makes it the most popular sparkling wine in the world. That's about double what they produce in Champagne. But the highest quality Prosecco is made about 40 miles from Venice, located between the cities of Valdobbiadene, say it with me, kids, Valdobbiadene and Conegliano. Is it a grape? It was up until 2009. It used to be that the grape that made Prosecco was called Prosecco, however, Italy got word that places like Slovenia and Australia were making wine from the same grape and calling it Prosecco as well and that didn't sit too well. Italy wanted to protect Prosecco's reputation. So they took a page out of Champagne's book and made steps to protect Prosecco as a place instead of a grape and simultaneously changed the name of the grape to Glera. And yeah, of course Prosecco is a wine but is there something distinct about the wine making process that makes it Prosecco? I'm glad you asked. See, it's all about how the bubbles are made. Unlike Champagne which uses the Champagne Method, Prosecco uses something called the Charmat Method to make its bubbles which we're gonna talk about later. To sum up, Prosecco is sparkling wine made in the Charmat Method, made within the Prosecco region using the Glera grape. See, not quite as simple as you thought. Glera, it's the main grape of Prosecco. I say main grape because the law actually allows for 15% other grapes to be blended into Prosecco. But today we're just gonna talk about Glera. There is evidence that Glera traces all the way back to the Romans which makes it one of the oldest grapes still being made today. So you can do as the Romans do and drink as the Romans drank. Glera makes wines that are full of yellow apple and pears, white peach and apricots, honeydew, citrus and lots and lots of flowers, white flowers, elder flowers, honeysuckle and lily. It's fairly low in alcohol, light in body with high acidity which keeps it crisp and refreshing. And while 90% of Prosecco you find will be sparkling, or spumante, it's sometimes made in a slightly fizzy style known as frizzante and even still, called tranquillo. It's a semi-aromatic grape variety which means if it's harvested properly at low yields it produces fragrant, floral and fruity wines. And if not, well, let's just say there's oceans of mediocre Prosecco on the market that a lot of Italians wouldn't wash their boots with. The good news is that today we're gonna talk about how to find the good stuff. Tamara and I continued our journey through the unassuming Italian town and local market. Then it was off to try a true Italian tradition, one you might have heard of, the Spritz. So what is Spritz 'cause to me it's not just a drink here. I hear everybody, Spritz, Spritz, Spritz all the time.

- Yeah, it's not just a drink. It's actually, it's a philosophy almost, I would say. It's part of the Italian culture.

- It's a lifestyle.

- Yes, it is a lifestyle, exactly. And it's basically a moment, it's called a aperitivo, in which you get together with friends and family about 11:30 in the morning or like 5:30 in the afternoon and you have a Spritz.

- [Vincent] 11:30 in the morning?

- Yeah, sometimes that happens.

- Sounds great.

- [Tamara] So it's a classic cocktail on this area. It's a part, a third of Prosecco, it's a third of sparkling water and a third of Bitters.

- [Vincent] A third like a Bitter liquor?

- Yes, exactly.

- Okay. You get the bubbles, you get the bitter, you get the little bit of sweet from the Prosecco and so you get kind of the balanced cocktail?

- Exactly. Exactly. Everything balances out.

- And you get kind of snacks with it as well?

- You do. You do. You do. Yeah, you get what's called Cicchetti which are little snacks.

- [Vincent] Cicchetti?

- [Tamara] Yes.

- [Vincent] All right, let me try it, not that I haven't had a Spritz before. They're all the rage, I don't know if you've heard.

- [Vincent] But have you had a Spritz in Italy?

- No.

- No.

- [Vincent] It tastes better here.

- [Tamara] Yes, it does.

- [Vincent] It does, I think the problem too is that some places in America use maybe low quality Prosecco and it's a much better cocktail if you're using the right Prosecco.

- Absolutely.

- So where are we going next? What's our plan for the day?

- [Tamara] Well, we are going to see the oldest Prosecco winery in Valdobbiadene.

- [Vincent] Just a five-minute walk from Downtown we were honored to sit down and talk with Pierluigi Bolla, president of Valdo Spumanti, which has been making wine since 1926.

- [Pierluigi] The company was a formed by four local entrepreneurs. One was a doctor and one was a lawyer, one was a farmer and another one was sales people like startup they say. 1938 or so before the Second World War my father decided to acquire this company. The new generation coming in the business today is the fifth generation.

- [Vincent] It's so amazing to hear you talk about a company that's been producing wine since 1926.

- [Massimo] Welcome here at the hills of Cartizze.

- It is beautiful.

- Which is mean the cru of the Prosecco wine production. Very steep, everything here is harvest manually.

- [Vincent] Wow, all by hand.

- All by hand. There are no automatic machines and there is no automatic irrigation as well. So basically we are taking advantage of what the nature is providing us with.

- [Vincent] And what you get is a true expression of the nature of the place.

- How difficult is to work the vineyard in this part of Valdobbiadene? To harvest one hectare it takes one day. To harvest one hectare in the flat area it takes usually one hour.

- [Tamara] Wow.

- Now, the destiny of Prosecco is something which is in our hands so we have to be careful in order to position Prosecco not as a commodity but as a wine which is produced in this marvelous and beautiful area.

- Get ready for a whole bunch of Italian words. There are four classifications of wine in Italy, VdT, IGT, DOC and DOCG. These are essentially government regulated geographic and quality controls. Today we're only gonna talk about the top two, DOC and DOCG which stand for Denominazione di Origine Controllata and Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita which officially mean Denomination of Controlled Origin and Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin. And that's the last time we're ever gonna say that because from now on we're calling it DOC or DOCG. You've probably seen these images on bottles without even knowing that you had. Things like Chianti DOCG or Valpolicella DOC. There are currently 329 DOCs in Italy and 74 DOCGs. To be labeled a DOC wine you have to follow certain rules, things like where the grapes can come from, what varietals are allowed and what percentages, alcohol levels, yields and viticultural techniques, aging techniques and more. These rules are even more strict at the DOCG level where yields have to be even lower, the geographic area where the wine can come from is usually smaller and a tasting panel actually has to approve your DOCG status. So how does this all relate to Prosecco? Well, Prosecco has what you may call a pyramid of DOC and DOCG classifications that generally goes up in quality the higher you get. DOC Prosecco is entry level grown primarily on the flatlands. But it's DOCG Prosecco that really shines. Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore is the most know Prosecco DOCG and it marks the area between the towns of Valdobbiadene in the west and Conegliano in the east which as of 2019 was actually named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is the area where Prosecco's full potential is revealed due to the grapes sun exposure, soil types, elevation and vine age. Because of the slope vineyards are extremely difficult to work and have to be harvest by hand. 250 hours of manual labor per acre versus only about 62 for the flatlands. The work is so difficult that the harvest is sometimes referred to as heroic harvest. The next level are the 43 sub-zones of the Rive, specific vineyards and communes known for even better wine. And the top of the pyramid, the steep hills of the Cartizze Vineyards, think black diamond ski slope steep. Only about 264 acres, you could call it the Grand Cru of Prosecco. Who better than Valdo's chief wine maker to explore the level of precision that goes into each bottle.

- No.

- No, she'll fill me in later. One last thing to talk about, how do they make those glorious bubbles? The Charmat Method, invented by Frederico Martinotti in 1895 but executed by a man named Eugene Charmat in 1907, hence the Charmat Method. It's also known as The Tank Method, Bulk Method, Cuve Close or Martinotti Method by Italians who'd rather credit the Italian guy rather than the French guy. It's a five-step method that is all completed in large pressurized tanks. First, the wine undergoes primary fermentation in stainless steel vats. This creates a very low alcohol, fruity, aromatic still wine, no bubbles yet. Second, the wine is put into a stainless steel tank called autoclave to undergo secondary fermentation. A mixture of yeast and sugar is added called tirage to induce secondary fermentation which lasts three to 12 months. This is the most important part because this is where the bubbles come from. See, all wine as a by-product of fermentation produces CO2, or carbon dioxide gas. But the difference is that in still wines the CO2 is allowed to evaporate up into the air in open vats. But in the Tank Method the fermentation occurs in a closed, pressurized tank that traps the CO2, making a giant tank of effervescent, bubbly wine. That's right, folks. Somewhere other than your fantasy exists a massive tank of Prosecco just waiting to be tapped. Third, the wine is cooled to stop fermentation and filtered under pressure into another tank. This filtration removes the dead yeast cells called lees. Fourth, sugar is added, called the dosage, this determines how sweet or not sweet your final wine will be. And finally, the wine is bottled under pressure into individual bottles like you can hear happening right behind me. We should talk briefly about the difference between the Charmat Method and the Champagne Method. See, people often use the word Champagne and Prosecco interchangeably but they're as different as cannolis and macaroons. The biggest difference is that while the Charmat Method occurs entirely in tanks, most of the process for the Champagne Method occurs in individual bottles. This provides smaller bubbles and more lees contact which leads to the bready, toasty and nutty characteristics that we associate with Champagne. But here's the thing, this process entails a lot more time, effort and energy in the cellar and thus, money. Entry-level Champagne costs around $40 and can cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars for the top tier wines. Good Prosecco can be had for 20 bucks and for $40 you can get top of the line Prosecco. And for aromatic grapes like Glera which they use to make it we don't really wanna cover up all the beautiful fresh and floral notes with yeast flavors, we wanna bring them out with pronounced, lively bubbles and wines that are quickly released and consumed so all of its beautiful aromatics are still intact. All right, already, I know enough about Prosecco. It was time to drink with the fifth generation of the Bolla family, Matteo. We have a lot of glasses in front of us right now.

- [Matteo] Of course. You can see that because Prosecco is a whole world full of different nuances and I'm very glad that we can go through the different styles and expressions. So the first bottle that I'm opening, it's our Marca Oro Prosecco DOC Brut.

- Cheers, Guys.

- Cheers.

- [Matteo] This is a three-months Charmat Method. Aromas predominantly is green apple and pear.

- [Tamara] You get the best of apricot and citrus, it's really fresh.

- [Matteo] Next in line we're going to taste our Cuvee 1926, okay. This product is created to honor the founding year of the winery. It is about the Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, really is like an whole meal companion.

- [Vincent] This is your workhorse, this can kind of do a little bit of everything.

- And it is the perfect expression of taste and tradition of Prosecco Superiore Extra Dry. It follows a five-month Charmat Method. We will find notes of white flowers, peach and tropical fruits.

- [Vincent] Oh yeah, right away beautiful like stone fruit character.

- And florals as well, like you said, white and purple florals.

- [Vince] And we describe it as sweeter but it doesn't taste sweet and I think that's something for people to understand is that the amount of acid and the amount of bubbles that you have balance it out. So it reminds me of fresh laundry where you get these beautiful fresh floral notes, lively and easy to drink.

- You make me remember my grandmother, the scent of the laundry of my grandmother.

- [Vincent] All right, so what is the next one?

- Next in line is our Rive di San Pietro di Barbozza. So the Colegniano Valdobbiadene DOCG territory is divided in 43 sub-zones, okay, that are called Rive. And this is an expression of one of these sub-zone called San Pietro di Barbozza. It is a Brut Nature so zero residual sugar, expression of florals since the Brut tends to enhance the floral notes.

- There's no residual sugar so that enhances, the minerality that comes from the soil.

- [Vincent] All right, wine number four.

- Next in line we are going to taste the Cuvee del Fondatore made with 90% Glera and 10% Oak Chardonnay.

- [Vincent] Oak Chardonnay?

- Yes.

- Wow.

- The Chardonnay is aged six month in the barrels which adds nuances of vanilla.

- [Vincent] Wow, that's cool. That's very unique. I mean, if you're into a fuller bodied chardonnay or perhaps if you're into a bigger style of Champagne this is the Prosecco that I think would be right up your alley.

- [Matteo] Always following the innovation from a production standpoint we have the Valdo Numero 10. Valdo started to experiment a Methodo Classico.

- [Vincent] The traditional method.

- [Matteo] The traditional method. A 10-month secondary fermentation in the bottle adds those yeasty toasted bread aromas typical of the traditional method while still keeping the traditional aromatics of Prosecco.

- [Vincent] Can I have a little more? This stuff is delicious. You know what, it's exceedingly complex. I went through that entire taste and I'm still getting new flavors and characteristics from it and the finish is gorgeous. The finish is long and persistent and it changes. And we've arrived at the finale.

- [Matteo] Grand finale.

- What do we have?

- [Matteo] So we have a very special wine. It is called a Cuvee Viviana and it is a Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore di Cartizze. It is the cru of Prosecco Superiore DOCG. So the residual sugar here is higher than all the Prosecco products that we have tasted so far.

- And you can smell it right on the nose.

- Yes, it's very pronounced, fresh fruits, tropical fruit notes.

- Oh, yeah.

- Yeah, there's like a ripe papaya and pineapple.

- Papaya.

- [Vincent] Well, thank you so much for taking us through this. This is absolutely incredible.

- Salute.

- Salute.

- Salute.

- Do you wanna try some of these wines? Head to V is for vino to join the V is for Vino Wine Club and get wines from this episode and others shipped right to your door so you can drink along with us, cheers. I may have gone a bit over the top with my hotel this trip. Welcome to CastelBrando, a 2,000-year-old medieval castle located 1,200 feet above sea level. It was originally built as a defensive fortress but today it's a four star hotel, theater and museum. The best part, it's only a 30-minute ride from Valdobbiadene. ♪ The tide is pulling us in ♪ ♪ I got you if you got me baby ♪ ♪ I got you if you got me baby ♪

- [Vincent] I mean, this is a actual castle and I don't think people understand that because we don't have these in America.

- [Tamara] This is one of the oldest and largest castles in Europe. It was built during the Roman times 2,000 years ago. And at the time it was built as a defensive fortress that's why it's located in this strategic position, 'cause from here they could monitor the whole valley. Now we're going to see the Brandolini Count bedroom.

- [Vincent] That's a pretty cool chandelier.

- [Tamara] Cool, right. Yeah, the chandelier is actually from Venice.

- [Vincent] Oh, it's from Venice.

- [Tamara] Yeah, it's Murano glass.

- Oh, that's the famous glass that we saw.

- Yes and it's original from the 1700.

- [Vincent] Wow.

- [Tamara] The count actually had seven secret exits from this bedroom. If he will get under attack he would escape from here. And the second reason was for his lovers.

- [Vincent] Oh, for the ladies.

- [Tamara] Yes, for the ladies.

- Do you know where they are? I guess they're secret. How would we know?

- They're secret.

- [Vincent] As we toured the castle you can't help but feel transported back in time, a time when life was harder, when you lived and died by the sword, when simple mundane tasks like providing food and water and security, things that we take for granted, took up most of your time. And how in 2019 I can come to this place that was once reserved for a select few and live in the luxury people from that time couldn't even fathom. Intricate mosaics in swimming pools where the Roman baths used to be. Turkish baths built into the original rock. But hey, I'll take this over a trip to the dungeon any day. Speaking of living in luxury it was time for me to call it a day. We had big plans for tomorrow.

- Ciao.

- You too, good night. See you tomorrow. Welcome to the V is for Vino Nerd Lab. We take complicated wine topics and make them simple. Today we're talking about sparkling wine sweetness.

- [Man] Sparkling wine sweetness.

- First off, we're only talking about sparkling wine today. Still wine sweetness is a whole other Nerd Lab.

- [Man] Yeah, Stupid.

- So why make sparkling wine sweet at all? Well, there's the obvious reason, sometimes wines that are sweet taste nice and pair better with spicy foods or desserts. But the less obvious reason is this, sparkling wines tend to be extremely acidic and a little bit of sugar could go a long way in making a sparkling wine more balanced. Think of it like putting sugar on a tart grapefruit to make it a bit more palatable. We didn't reduce the acidity of the grapefruit, we simply balanced it out with the sugar. A lot of times the sugar added to the sparkling wine is imperceptible. It doesn't make the wine sweet it simply puts it in line with the acidity and makes a smoother wine. Sparkling wine sweetness comes from something called a dosage. How much of this dosage is added determines the sweetness level which is measured in grams per liter. About the labeling system, most sparkling wine all over the world follows the same rules when it comes to labeling your sparkling wines. But the bad news, the words used are a bit counterintuitive. Let's start at the bottom. Brut Nature, which is 0 to 3 grams per liter and means zero or close to zero added sugar. These wines are bone dry. Next we get the Extra Brut or 0 to 6 grams per liter which, yes, on paper can be slightly sweeter but this wine is still incredibly dry. Then we get to Brut which you've probably seen many times before. The reason being is that Brut allows for a whole lot of wiggle room, zero to 12 grams per liter and still know that this wine will probably taste very dry. Now here's where things get confusing. We move onto extra dry which is 12 to 17 grams per liter and dry which is 17 to 32 grams per liter. Even though these wines are called dry, which in still wines we use to describe no sugar, in sparkling wines extra dry and dry actually mean a little sweet.

- [Man] That's dumb.

- I know, it's at extra dry where things start to taste a bit smoother and fruitier and a hint of sweet and a dry where you'll get some noticeable sweetness. Our last two are Demi-sec and Doux. These wines are definitely dessert wines, noticeably sweet.

- [Man] Sweet.

- And when we're talking about Prosecco you'll typically only see them labeled as Brut, extra dry and dry, because Prosecco is already fairly fruity. So an extra dry Prosecco is going to taste even sweeter than an extra dry Champagne. And while all this seem like a whole lot of sugar consider this, cola has about 106 grams per liter which is way higher than even the sweetest sparkling wines. And the difference between a glass of dry wine and a glass of sweet wine is only about 30 calories or so. So if you're looking for places to cut calories consider cutting out the desserts and grabbing a glass of sparkling wine instead. I hope today's Nerd Lab explained a little bit about sparkling wine sweetness and as always, keep geeking out. The best thing about Prosecco, it can be drank throughout the entire meal and no one knows this better than our restaurant which has been a local staple for 120 years. So where are we headed?

- We are heading to the Restaurant Da Gigetto.

- [Vincent] Okay.

- [Tamara] Yes, one of the most historic restaurants in the whole area. We're walking into food inspired by the tradition but with a touch of innovation. So they use a lot of fresh ingredients, local ingredients based on the season.

- [Vincent] This restaurant has some special meaning to you, right? So you got married, this was your reception?

- [Tamara] Yes. Yes. It was a wonderful, wonderful time.

- So I'm going in with a VIP.

- Absolutely.

- All right, I love it.

- [Tamara] Let's do this.

- [Vincent] Well, cheers.

- [Tamara] Cheers.

- I feel like we're strapping in for a while here. Texture is my favorite part of this dish because it's this beautiful balance. The richness with the duck, the crunchy from the little bit of

- The crostini.

- The crostini. And then the creamy from the mousse, a little bit of everything. And I love this with the DOC because I think you get an easy drinking wine with kind of a complex dish. When you don't know what bottle to bring to your next dinner party bring sparkling wine. The acidity in bubbles act as a palate cleanser and make sparkling wine super versatile. Plus, the fatty duck and creamy mouse crave a high-acid wine. Let's talk about pairing multiple courses. The general rule is you wanna go from less complex to more complex or light to heavy. The DOC Prosecco is the lightest, most straight forward of the wines so it's definitely where we wanna start. Plus, the duck has a whole lot of flavor and texture going on so sometimes it's good not to overwhelm the palate with an equally complex wine but rather to contrast with something easy drinking.

- I have goosebumps and I'm not joking even a little bit. That pumpkin is unreal.

- I've never thought about a broth made with fig's leaves.

- [Vincent] The 1926 is more rich and complex than DOC which continues our light to heavy trend. And as you already know, bubbles pair with everything. Also, the little bit of sugar that comes from the fig and pumpkin needs the little bit of sugar that comes from the extra dry Prosecco.

- Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Mushrooms again but completely different mushroom, porcini so meatier, hearty, perfect for I think the hearty beef. Traditional method, perfect for richer dish. This is a meat dish. I don't have any problem pairing this with sparkling wine.

- Yeah, you do have a vinegar on top so you get the little bit of acidity.

- Yeah. Damn. The traditional method Prosecco is rich and powerful, definitely a more serious complex wine and is the perfect pairing for the rich, meaty steak or main fish courses.

- [Vincent] This is stunningly beautiful this dish.

- [Tamara] Isn't it?

- [Vincent] Yeah. I can't place my finger on what this is, it's delicious.

- [Tamara] It's a Prosecco meringue.

- I love that dessert is pretty much mandatory in Italy.

- It is.

- In America I feel like it's maybe, maybe not, we're too full. Italy it's part of the meal.

- You have to have dessert.

- [Vincent] Yeah, so they have the wine that's got not only the top cru, the highest sugar content so obviously perfect with dessert.

- Perfect with dessert, exactly.

- When pairing multiple courses the light to heavy pattern usually resets at dessert, especially if there are multiple dessert courses. So we're not gonna worry about that anymore. The most important rule for dessert is that sweet foods need sweet wines and our dry Cartizze Prosecco has the highest sugar level of all our Proseccos. Don't forget, dry when used to describe sparkling wine is actually fairly sweet. What happens now?

- [Tamara] Well, at the end of your meal you usually have coffee and grappa.

- Little did I know, the Da Gigetto's sommelier Monica had curated one of the best cellars in all of Veneto, if not all of Italy. So before our post dinner digestif she gave us a tour.

- [Vince] I've seen cellars, I've never seen anything like this.

- [Tamara] How many bottles do you have here?

- [Monica] 36,400.

- [Tamara] Wow, that's something.

- [Monica] The most important part is 60% Italian wine and 40% foreign country.

- [Vincent] I see some French over there though.

- But I put there--

- We put a lock behind it.

- Yes, of course.

- [Vincent] How long have you been working on this cellar?

- [Monica] 16 years ago. Fortunately I love this work. It's an original well. This well help me to maintain the humidity of the wine cellar.

- Oh, absolutely, yeah.

- I'm sure you have things in here that are impossible to get other places.

- [Monica] This is my favorite part of wine cellar because this is my country. This is Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore and people that came from south of Italy or north of Italy I would like that they taste the Prosecco because I believe in Prosecco. In the worst place I put the French white.

- They go under there. Thank you for showing me this.

- [Tamara] Yeah, thank you, Monica.

- Thank you to you.

- [Vince] All right, brown liquid, clear liquid, what have we got?

- [Tamara] Yes. We have an espresso and a grappa. You can have first your coffee and then your grappa or you can put some of your grappa in your coffee and make it a corretto. You've had grappa before, right?

- Only like once or twice. It's not really a huge thing in America.

- [Tamara] It's not, right. In Italy it's a big thing, especially in this area because grappa originated in this area. I got a lot of flowers, a lot of purple flowers.

- Oh yeah, purple.

- Like violets.

- Purple, as soon as you said purple.

- [Tamara] Right, so do you know how to test if a grappa is really good?

- How drunk it gets you?

- Well yeah, there's that. But there's a very old school way to do it.

- Okay, what is it?

- Let me show you. So you pour a little bit of grappa on your hand, just a tiny little bit.

- [Vince] I feel like you're pulling a prank on me. Okay, a little bit.

- And then you just do this with your hands and then you smell it.

- What am I smelling for?

- So if it smells like grapes it's a good grappa.

- Oh, it definitely smells like grapes.

- Right, doesn't it?

- Yeah, it straight up smells like grapes. Love it, that's good.

- I know, it's really good.

- It's strong.

- It's really strong.

- It's strong.

- But it's very smooth at the same time, right.

- It doesn't burn as it goes down. It's very smooth and now I'm going corretto.

- [Tamara] Yeah, let's correct it. That's a lot of grappa to put in a coffee.

- Oh, are you only supposed to put in a little bit? I thought you just dump it.

- No, you don't.

- I thought you just put it. So that was not correct?

- [Tamara] No, that's too correct.

- I've over corrected.

- You over corrected.

- And now I cannot uncorrect.

- Exactly.

- I'm being honest, it's not that bad. Good, I'm glad.

- I didn't mess up that bad. Well, this has been one of the greatest trips of my life. When you travel to Italy I think a lot of people go to Venice, they go to, I don't know, Piedmont, they go to Tuscany. I think think more people need to come here. It feels authentic. It feels real. It's not far from Venice. It's absolutely stunning. I've never seen more, the hillsides and the countrysides and I think the number one thing from me is the people here are amazing.

- [Tamara] Yes.

- [Vincent] Everybody is hospitable. Everybody is excited that you're here.

- [Tamara] I'm so happy that you got to experience the Italian hospitality and it was my pleasure to have you here.

- You're the best. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

- Thank you, Vince.

- [Men] One, two, three, go.

- And with that, our trip to Prosecco was a wrap. If I've learned one thing on this trip it's that Prosecco goes with everything. It goes with long afternoons when you've left work early. It goes with views. It goes with every type of food imaginable. It goes with cocktails in crowded bars and it goes with sunsets and picnics with friends. Pick a moment, a place, an event and adding Prosecco would probably make it better. Ciao, and we'll see you next time on V is for Vino. Valdo. Valdo. Valdo.

- Oh God, I'm tired.

- I know. Oh man, well this would.

- [Vincent] Hey, Vince here. Do you want more V is for Vino? I have a bunch of exclusive behind-the-scenes content on my Instagram at V is for Vino. I interact with you and have new posts all the time so go right now and give a quick follow so we can stay in touch, cheers.