Moving into the DOC Treviso category, which is generally considered a step up from just DOC Prosecco, this is a lovely fizz with a touch of sweetness, fresh pear and peach fruit, a touch of orange blossom and a lingering aftertaste, made refreshing by a note of ruby grapefruit. So read on for the best samples from the world’s biggest independent blind tasting of Prosecco in 2020. 10. Zonin Prosecco DOC Cuvée 1821 character, it’s pure and bright, as well as juicy and ripe, and complemented by a lovely creamy-textured fizz. Quite dry by Prosecco standards, this expression delivers more fresh fruit than sweetness, and represents a serious style of Prosecco for a surprisingly affordable price point.

What’s important about these Proseccos is that the brands below were sampled without prior knowledge as to their source – the sparklers were tasted ‘blind’, which removes any risk of prejudicial judgments, which we believe is vital for the fair and accurate quality assessment of drinks. Proving that great, layered refreshing fizz can be found within Prosecco – a sparkling made by re-fermenting the wine in a pressurized vat – was this class-leading Brut example from top producer Andreola. Although its winemaking method means it doesn’t have the bready, nutty characters you find in traditional method fizz, such as Champagne, it delivers something else: fresh, aromatic, juicy fruit, from peach and pear to lemon and lime zest, complemented by a lovely mouth-filling creamy textured fizz. Housed in a gold-coloured bottle, no Prosecco does bling better than Bottega. But don’t think that it’s all style over substance, as this fizz has repeatedly proven to be a gold-quality product too, with plenty of peachy fruit, a lovely orange zest lift, and a persistent, dry finish. It’s a fruity but not too sweet style of Prosecco with masses of freshness.Grapes are hand-harvested & softly pressed in the winery., The Italian Charmat method is used, with fermentation in stainless steel tanks and a secondary fermentation in sealed tanks for 40 days. The Global Prosecco Masters is a competition created and run by the drinks business, and forms part of its successful Masters series for noble grape varieties, such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir; major wine styles, from sparkling to rosé; and famous regions including Rioja, Champagne and Tuscany. The competition is exclusively for Prosecco. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding in their field received the ultimate accolade – the title of Prosecco Master.

To mark National Prosecco Day we bring you our top 10 best Proseccos of 2020 – all of which have been selected from this year’s biggest ‘blind’ tasting of this famous Italian fizz. Typical, characteristic and refined with fruity notes (in particular green apple, pear, citrus), floral (white flowers, acacia, wisteria and lily of the valley) and to finish with sage and spicy. Masses of peachy aromatics make this an enticing Prosecco from the first sniff. It then delivers lots of ripe pear and apricot fruit, a mouth-filling creamy fizz, some sweetness, and then a chalky finish for refreshment. A fruity, quite sweet, and appealing example that offers a lot of flavour.If you are in the mood for something indulgent, with the mouth-filling richness that comes from something a little sweet, then Villa Sandi’s ‘dry’ Rive di San Pietro di Barbozza is a brilliant place to go. As with many of the very best Proseccos, there is quite a high level of sugar in the fizz, but, because of the aromatic, fresh orchard fruit flavours, the drink still refreshes. This Villa Sandi fizz treads that balance with particular finesse. Taken from 2020’s Prosecco Masters – which is a competition solely for the sparkling wine run by the drinks business – the 10-strong selection below represents the top performers from across a range of price points and styles, including the extremely dry to the richly sweet, or the low-priced to luxury level cuvée.