Prosecco at the sea: Italy’s favorite wine to pair with seafood.
As the Italian national summer holiday Ferragosto approaches, many Italians will be heading to the seaside (if they’re not already there). After all, who can blame them? Italians are surrounded by the Mediterranean and all the amazing seafood served along the Italian coastline — from Sicily to Venice, from Puglia to the Italian riviera in the northwest.
The two most popular tourist spots for seafood in Italy are Venice and Naples — naturally. Some might be surprised by how similar the seafood menus are in both places even though the “landfoods” are so different. But it should come as no surprise. The great secret to great seafood is freshness and the purity of ingredients. And Italy, wherever you go there, abounds with freshness and purity of ingredients!
In Venice and Naples, like so many other places around the coast, you get clams and langoustines plucked straight from the sea — a stone’s throw from most restaurants in those two cities. Crabs and sea urchins, foraged not farmed.
There’s great seafood nearly everywhere along the coast, including the islands (obviously) and destinations along the Tyrrhenian (Tuscany) and the Adriatic (Marche, Abruzzo, Molise, and Puglia).
But… the ONE thing these places all have in common, even though they are divided by geography and local traditions, is that everywhere you go along the Italian coast, they pair Prosecco with their seafood.
We’re sorry, Naples. We love you. But even in the Parthenopean capital, the preferred wine to pair with seafood is Prosecco.
And that’s because Prosecco is arguably the best seafood wine in the world. As the saying goes, if it grows with it, it goes with it. And the winning combination of seafood and Prosecco, with its salty notes and bright bright flavors, is the ideal wine. It’s kind of like squeezing a lemon over a beautiful piece of fish that has been expertly cooked. The citrus and the tropical flavors of the wine are fantastic with nearly any kind of seafood, especially fried or crudo, where the saltiness of the foods needs a fresh Prosecco to balance them out.
There’s another reason why Prosecco is so great at the sea. It’s very low in alcohol, usually around 11 percent per liter of wine.
When you’re at the sea, you’re inevitably going to be spending a lot of time in the warm summer sun. You’re going to be thirstier than you might regularly be. And for that reason you need a wine that you can drink without feeling the unwanted effects of the alcohol.
Moderation is always advised, in any situation. But Prosecco is one of the wines that not only hits the spot. It also doesn’t weigh you down with heavy alcohol that makes you tired and wanting to take a nap.
The best news is that La Gioiosa Prosecco is Italy’s favorite Prosecco and you can find it nearly anywhere in Italy, including the coastal cities where it’s a go-to wine for pairing with the sea and all the food and culture that come with it.
Freshness is La Gioiosa’s signature: thanks to a pioneering approach to sparkling wine production developed by La Gioiosa’s winemaker, the estate’s Prosecco has an incredibly long shelf life. As a result, you can rest assured that you will be getting that classic freshness, intense fruit flavors, and wonderful drinkability with these wines.
The formula is extremely simple: Head to the beach, order some seafood in a seaside osteria like spaghetti with clams or paccheri with shrimp and mussels, and then pop a bottle of La Gioiosa Prosecco. We are confident that you won’t be disappointed!
Here’s to a great summer in Italy or wherever you’re vacationing by the sea or ocean (fish tacos in San Diego paired with Prosecco? YES!). Buon Ferragosto. Have a great summer and enjoy the Ferragosto holiday.
