Prosecco: Prosecco is an Italian DOC or DOCG white wine produced in a large area spanning nine provinces in the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia regions, and named after the village of Prosecco which is in the province of Trieste, Italy. It is made from the Prosecco grape (renamed Glera in 2009 within the European Union) but denomination rules allow up to 15% of the wine to be other permitted varieties. Prosecco is almost always made in sparkling or semi-sparkling style (spumante and frizzante, respectively), but a still wine (tranquillo) is also permitted. Within the larger designation are two small DOCG areas, Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco in the hills between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, and Asolo Prosecco around the nearby town of Asolo. Prosecco Superiore is always spumante and comes only from these DOCG areas.
Aperol: Aperol is an Italian bitter apéritif made of gentian, rhubarb and cinchona, among other ingredients. It has a vibrant orange hue. Its name comes from apero, a French slang word for apéritif. Aperol was originally created in 1919 by Luigi and Silvio Barbieri after seven years of experimentation. It did not become widely popular until after World War II. It was first produced by the Barbieri company, based in Padua, but is now produced by the Campari Group. Although it tastes and smells much like Campari, Aperol has an alcohol content of 11%—less than half that of Campari. They have the same sugar content, and Aperol is less bitter in taste. Campari is also much darker in color. Aperol sold in Germany had an alcohol content of 15% for some time to avoid German container deposit legislation regulations, but since 2021, it has been sold with an alcohol content of 11%.
