What makes Prosecco such a great choice? Well, it’s cheap to make, which means you can buy it at a great price, and the winemaking process used to make it preserves the fruit flavours of the wine, making it a light and fruity style of wine to drink.

In Australia, we’ve worked out that we’re pretty good at making Prosecco. Previously, Italian migrants in Victoria’s King Valley grew tobacco. Now, they’ve replaced tobacco-farming with viticulture, planting the grape varieties of their homeland, including Prosecco.

In terms of imported Prosecco, you’ll see both ‘Prosecco DOC’ and ‘Prosecco Superiore DOCG’ on the label. The second name indicates a wine that comes from the original and better vineyards of Prosecco in north-eastern Italy; ‘Conegliano’ and ‘Valdobbiadene’ are the best vineyards.

The great value imported Proseccos and the local alternatives are battling it out for shelf space in your local fine wine store and are proving a good match for each other.

Here’s a few great examples to try below. Drink on their own, or with light seafood dishes, especially those with a gentle Asian spice influence.

Canella Prosecco Superiore DOC NV, Conegliano Valdobbiadene, Prosecco, Italy

The Canella has a generous, frothy mousse that quickly subsides, but offers a lively, steady stream of tiny bubbles. On the nose it’s all light lemon and honeysuckle florals, while on the palate it’s dry, with a soft, enveloping mouthfeel, with lemon and light toasty notes giving way to yellow peach cobbler with air and warmth. Gorgeous wine, and my favourite in the line-up. [RRP $26]

Cester Dasogno ‘Vino Frizzante’ Prosecco DOC NV, Treviso, Prosecco, Italy

A slight diversion away from standard Prosecco; ‘frizzante’ indicates a wine that is gently sparkling, not a constant rupture of bubbles. Again, the mousse dissipates quickly but the line of bubbles softly rises to the surface. It’s not as intense as the Canella, but it shows lovely just-ripe yellow peach with light toast and passionfruit on the nose and palate. [RRP $33]

Brown Brothers Prosecco NV, King Valley, Victoria

The first of the Aussie contenders has that same tell-tale, creamy mousse that subsides to reveal a persistent rush of bubbles. It shows almost ripe white peach on the nose and is off-dry with more white peach, pear, yuzu and gooseberry on the palate with a soft creamy mousse. No nasty surprises here, just easy-going and refreshing. [RRP $20]

Chrismont ‘La Zona’ Prosecco NV, King Valley, Victoria

This Prosecco is has the most fruit flavour of the lot – a commendable feat since Prosecco is a grape known for it’s neutrality. The ‘La Zona’ opens with a lively creamy mousse and shows white peach, gooseberry, lemon and tutti-frutti notes on the nose and more of the same as well as yellow peach nectar on the palate. Perfect crowd-pleaser. [RRP $20]