Thursday, March 01, 2007

Foss Marai Prosecco DOC Extra – Dry

Our current evaluation of Prosecco ends with Foss Marai Prosecco Extra – Dry. Foss Marai Prosecco is a good Prosecco, produced using traditional methods. Foss Marai is part of the Consorzio dei Produttori Prosecco del Valdobbiadene but their claim to quality has been earned over generations. The Biasotto family has dedicated their efforts to the production of Prosecco for over a century. Foss Marai produces some very interesting wines and the Prosecco Extra – Dry is just one of many quality products. The vineyard is located deep in the valleys of Guia. The local dialect calls the valleys, fossi. Marai is another name for Guia, thus the winery took the name of the place of production, Foss Marai.



Foss Marai Prosecco Extra – Dry develops the common floral flavors of Prosecco. While it is an extra – dry we found it slightly tending toward sweet without the slightly bitter tones we like so much in the sparkling Prosecco. The bubbles are small and probably on the light side of other sparkling wines. It does produce that small burp after a couple of sips but is not pungent or dominant. The basic flavor is green fruit, specifically green apples, however the sugar content creates a smooth finish. For us this makes Foss Marai less an Aperitivo and more an accompanying wine for light sauces, mild cheeses, and baked fish.

Our quest continues in the search for our perfect Prosecco. For others this may be the perfect choice as taste and preference are very personal. We will continue our research. We will suffer the numerous bottles of marvelous Prosecco that, while great, are not perfect. For you, we will make the sacrifice.





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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can relate to your quest for the perfect prosecco, as I have been on my own similar quest for the past 10 years or so, ever since I started working regularly in the Veneto. Foss Marai is my all around favorite presecco vineyard. I have watched in both admiration and personal dismay as the price of a bottle has doubled with the growing popularity of prosecco in general and Foss Marai in particular. I don’t recall ever having had the extra-dry though, always sticking to the Cuvee brut (the bottle has the spiraling ridges). Perhaps you didn’t sample this because it isn’t 100% prosecco, but a blend. Nonetheless it has the prosecco taste, and brut versions of the pure prosecco are also available from this vineyard. You note that “we found it slightly tending toward sweet without the slightly bitter tones we like so much in the sparkling Prosecco.” This may be due to your choice of the extra-dry (as you of course know, but some readers may not, “extra-dry” is a weird term as applied to sparkling wines where it means “not particularly dry at all”). Foss Marai also produces various quality levels. The bottle you evaluated is their lowest priced level. I haven’t tried this in many years as it is too expensive to be a bargain, but not good enough to be great. I generally buy the cuvee brut and save it for a special occasion (last I checked it was 9-12 Euros in the Veneto, so still a good value). For regular drinking I buy any one of the many lower priced brands that offer very nice prosecco in the 3-6 Euro range.

7:57 AM

 

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