Prosecco is big business in north-east Italy. While the region of Veneto isn’t necessarily known for its gastronomic prowess, the surrounding area’s wine production is generally exceptional. Produced in Veneto, Friuli and Venezia Giulia (named after the village of Prosecco in Trieste), the wine’s popularity has grown exponentially in recent years, with much of the total yield exported, with the foreign market accounting for €1.8 billion in 2018, on top of the €600 million from the Italian market.

It’s also perhaps unsurprising that the U.K. is the largest export market, with 35.9 per cent of last year’s total production making its way to the UK (approximately 166 million bottles). The USA follows, with 20.9 per cent of the total export, explains Tanja Barattin at the Prosecco DOC Consortium’s headquarters in Treviso, a historic city in Veneto.