When you walk into your favorite wine shop, do you feel overwhelmed with the amount of different Prosecco brands staring at you from the shelves? We don’t blame you if you do. There are a lot! According to research, in just the first nine months of 2021 there were almost 100 million bottles of Prosecco exported into the U.S. by the Prosecco DOC Consortium. That’s a lot of Prosecco! 

Where is Prosecco Produced? 

It’s important to remember that sparkling wine can legally only be called a Prosecco if it meets certain requirements and comes from a certain region in Italy. There are a lot of different types of sparkling wines on the market, coming from all over the world, but we have definitely seen a shift in the popularity of Italian Prosecco.  

There are a few specific Proseccos, however, that seem to be more popular — or rather, more available — than others. These brands are included on just about every restaurant and bar menu and always available in every retail store. SYLTBAR is not one of them, and we have a very good reason for that.

First of all, we do not use big companies to mass produce our wines. Instead, we work with one small family-owned vineyard in Friuli, Italy. A vineyard that has been owned and operated by four generations of wine makers who believe in  sustainability and protecting the environment while also producing a clean, natural product.

Privately Owned Wine Company rely on loyal customers

Without a big company backing the brand, we are not equipped to service restaurants and retailers in the same way that these other big name brands are. This is something our winemakers do on purpose, in order to protect and preserve the integrity and quality of the wine they are producing. SYLTBAR wines are made 100% naturally, with no chemicals, sulfites, or sweeteners/sugars added. It’s pure and natural wine, nothing added and nothing removed — and because of that, there are less of our vintages produced to ensure only the highest quality of wine is being offered to consumers. We are very selective about the retailers and restaurants we choose for SYLTBAR to be available in. They should align with our brand’s culture and beliefs.  

When you see SYLTBAR on a menu, or on the shelf at a store, you know there is a good reason why that particular location has been chosen. You won’t find SYLTBAR as often as you will other brands, and we like it that way.

If you haven’t already guessed, we’re talking about La Marca and Ruffino. Both of these Proseccos are Italian made, but how did these brands get to become so much more commercial than SYLTBAR?

What is the difference between La Marca vs. Ruffino vs. SYLTBAR?

The answer lies in who is producing the wine: small, family-owned vineyards versus big companies that own various different brands and have made large marks in the industry.

La Marca is owned by Gallo Winery Inc., which yes, is a family-owned winery that was started by brothers back in the 1930’s, but the brand’s portfolio contains over 100 different brands, other than La Marca, which is why it has become so well known. Ruffino has a different story. It was a family-owned winery, started in the 1800s by two cousins. It proved to be a truly successful brand through the years, eventually making its way to the US. In 2003, the Constellation wine family bought stocks in the Ruffino winery and then bought it out entirely in 2011. Just to put that in perspective for you, Constellation is a Fortune 500 company, an American producer and marketer of alcohol and actually the largest beer import company in the entire US.

As we have talked about in other blogs, when there is a need to produce huge quantities of wine, sometimes there are corners that must be cut into order to decrease costs and speed up the winemaking process. This is when extra sugars and chemical preservatives like sulfites could come into the picture.

SYLTBAR Wines are produced by Family Owned Winerys

SYLTBAR remains to be a much smaller brand compared to these two big name Proseccos, but this is by choice. We continue to work only with one producer. Because they are producing much smaller quantities, it is much easier to maintain control over the product, and there is no need to add sugar or sulfites! We will never compromise quality when it comes to SYLTBAR — that you can be sure of. 

To shop for no-sugar-added, no-sulfite-added, always-high-quality wines, visit our online store and check for retailers near you that sell our wine.