Asti is a sweet, aromatic sparkling wine produced in Piedmont. Its sales dramatically decreased during the last few years. In order to try to find a solution to the appellation crisis, the Asti docg Consortium asked the Italian Government to allow Asti producers to make a new dry version of their wine and to name it Astisecco or Asti Secco (“secco” in Italian means “dry”).
Sistema Prosecco – an association created by the Consortiums of Prosecco doc, Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore docg and Asolo Prosecco Superiore docg in order to fight against counterfeits – declares that an eventual new type of Asti can’t evoke in any way the name Prosecco.
“Prosecco is one of the most exported Italian wines – Sistema Prosecco says – and it represents a well known name for consumers”.