WINE O’CLOCK: A nice wee Prosecco, just what mammy ordered

WHAT’S your mum’s favourite tipple, asks a flier that has popped into my email basket. I didn’t have a mum. I had a mam, sometimes a mammy, and her favourite tipple was tea.

She drank gallons of the stuff and always in the same minuscule measure. Whether quaffed from a giant mug or sipped like a dainty tisane, it was always “a nice wee cup of tea”.

I f my mam were alive she would be 93. Tastes have evidently changed since her departure for, according to this email, from Aldi, the favourite tipple of Irish mammies is sparkling white wine.

For Mother’s Day they recommend two Proseccos, their Castellore Frizzante DOC at €7.99 and their Spumante DOCG at €12.99.

Frizzante is the most popular Prosecco in Ireland. It is semi-sparkling and, although the corks are sometimes mushroom-shaped and tied down with string, this is just for show. You open the bottles with a corkscrew, like any other wine, and they are unlikely to make a popping noise. This one has a screw top and is none the worse for that.

However it is a bit sweet for my taste. I prefer the Corvezzo Organic Prosecco (€14.99), a drier product with a nice citrus tang.

Spumante is the fizzy one with a cork that pops from the bottle – like Cava or Champagne, except that Prosecco ferments in a large vat while, with the Spanish and French products, secondary fermentation takes place in the bottles, which are regularly checked and turned.

This may add to the quality. It certainly adds to the price. although it would be hard to quibble  with €11.29 for Aldi’s Contevdo Cava Brut and their Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut (€19.99) is one of the best buys on the market.

I wonder would it have tempted my mam away from tea. I doubt it. A nice wee cup of champagne just doesn’t have the same ring about it.

MICHAEL WOLSEY