An impossibly elegant Prosecco

NV Rustico, Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Nino Franco Spumanti, Veneto, Italy (£12.95-£14.99, Sommelier's Choice, London, 020-8689 9643; Clifton Cellars, Bristol, 0117-973 0287; Oeno, Cirencester and Stroud, 01285-658511; The Wine Library, London, 020-7481 0415; Sommelier Wine Company, Guernsey, 01481-721677).

Really posh Prosecco always tastes to me like a wickedly guilty pleasure, but it shouldn't because it is not a dear wine, nor is it necessarily that decadent.

Perhaps it's the evocative images that this delicious, gently sparkling style of wine throws up, which make me feel like touring around the Italian countryside in a decent convertible, stopping off at roadside cafes and eating the freshest garden veg and cheese while admiring the beautiful vistas.

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Prosecco has a celebratory feel about it which Champagne can't quite match. Rustico is an impossibly elegant interpretation of this wine and it looks as chic as it tastes. With a slick ten grammes per litre of residual sugar, it is super-smooth, too.

Grave di Stecca Brut, its grander sibling (£24.00-£26.49, as above, apart from our pals in Guernsey who are cheaper because of the lack of duty) is a serious, mineral-driven and white flower perfumed prosecco with a tight, fine finish.

And even at this lofty level, you are still not troubling real champagne prices! Bellissima.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year ( www.matthewjukes.com ).

Matthew Jukes has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006.

He has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.