Bortolomiol, Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG (Veneto, Italy) 2017

 This is among the handful of best Proseccos I’ve ever tasted, I’ve traveled repeatedly to the heart of the prime growing region and tasted all of the top wines from multiple vintages.  I’m not trying to impress anybody by writing this, just indicating that high-end Prosecco sourced from the steep slopes around the lovely town of Valdobbiadene is among my specialties, and even when judged against hundreds of the very best dry wines from the region, this is still an astonishing wine and a competitor — in its way — to the world’s best sparkling wines, including Champagne.  Making Prosecco that is generous rather than austere or sharp with no sugar at all added at bottling (which is what “Brut Nature” means on the back label) is very hard to do, requiring absolutely pristine fruit that has been perfectly ripened and then crafted with great care.  That’s evidently what was done in this case, as the wine’s aroma, appearance, initial flavors, mid-palate texture and long, symmetrical finish are utterly impeccable.  The single most remarkable element of the wine is its texture, which is so soft thanks to ultra-tiny bubbles that the wine is truly creamy in feel, though the effervescence is so abundant that the wine is still vibrant.  This is not a stand-alone virtue, as the wine’s creamy texture allows its flavor nuances express themselves, rather than being swept off the palate by coarse bubbles.  The team at Bortolomiol obviously devoted great care to this 70th Anniversary bottle, which is an object lesson in how fantastic Prosecco from Valdobbiadene can be.