Forget about Prosecco — drink this £6.97 sparkling wine instead

Metro

2 days ago

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If I had a penny for every time a wine writer calls something 'the new Prosecco', I'd be drinking champagne every day.
Hear me out with this one though… I recently discovered Asda's new Italian sparkling which is a great shout for anyone with Prosecco-fatigue. It's called Wine Atlas Garda Sparkling, it's 11% alcohol, it's creamy, soft and lemony fresh and crucially, it's only £6.97 a bottle.
Did I mention it's also a silver medal winner at the prestigious International Wine Challenge (IWC) 2025?
Just to clarify, this isn't an ad, I just get excited about stumbling upon value-for-money wines like this.
First of all though, what is the Wine Atlas range? Well, according to Asda it's a 'passport to wine discovery', enabling us to uncover more unusual grape varieties and countries. It's similar to Aldi's 'Unearthed' range, Waitrose's 'Loved and Found', Morrisons' 'Block Series', M&S's 'Found' range, you get the picture.
Garda is the first sparkling wine in the Wine Atlas range. Unlike Prosecco, the name of the famous region located 45 minutes north of Venice, Asda's sparkling is from Lake Garda, Italy's largest lake. The sparkling is made from the Garganega grape (pronounced 'gar-gan-agar'), usually found in the dry white wines of Soave.
It's made in the same way as Prosecco, the Tank Method (or Charmat Method) where the bubbles are formed during fermentation in a large pressurised tank, called an autoclave. It's much more 'bish, bash, bosh' than Champagne and English sparkling, which are both made by the time-consuming and expensive 'traditional method', where bubbles have been formed in the bottle you buy it in. Again, via a second fermentation.
Sparkling wines that are made via the Tank Method are far cheaper than the two fancier fizzes I mentioned, simpler in flavour and ready to drink now. Not unlike this one.
Lake Garda, referred to as 'the pearl of northern Italy', is better know for its tourism than its wine; famous for its lakeside villages, crystalline azure water and medieval castles. The region also produces wines with names you will have clocked on swanky wine lists; including the cherry-red wines of Bardolino, the citrus-fresh whites of Lugana or Soave and the ultra-rich reds of Amarone. More Trending
With a unique microclimate, biodiversity and centuries-old winemaking tradition, Lake Garda is basically the ideal place for producing world quality wines. With that in mind, then, what did I really think of Asda's The Wine Atlas Garda Sparkling? Here goes and absolutely no pressure…
An enticing nose of fresh pears, creamy soft in the mouth with rich notes of pear purée and apple sherbet and a frothy, peach melba finish. Very good for the price
Also try this from The Wine Atlas range:
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It's all about the Carricante grape from Sicily nowadays. At least, it is on my watch. Vines are located around the smoking presence of Mount Etna (which recently erupted, so take care), which I always feels injects a soupcon of spice into the wine. This white is vibrant, lively, rich with stone fruit flavours, oh, and utterly delicious.
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