As you are relaxing and reading this, you have no idea how hard I will be working. On this Friday morning I will be attending seminars on fine burgundy, barolos, a top Napa Valley Estate and then finishing with Spain.

Lunch will be hosted by wineries from Argentina and then more seminars and tastings follow in the afternoon. I wind down in the evening at ‘Wine Spectator’s’ grand tasting, put on by 250 wineries, each of which will have their owners or winemakers pouring their very best. And that is just the first full day of the annual New York Wine Experience! I am sure that there will be stories to share when I get home.

So as I write this in advance of my travels, my mind is thinking, “what can I feature this week?”. It is not always easy.

Suddenly a little voice is saying, “let’s go with one of the fastest growing wine categories”. This happens to be bubbly prosecco from Italy.

During the past 12 months in the UK, prosecco sales grew by 72 per cent as the nation consumed 50 million bottles. This compares with 13 million champagne and just over 2.5 million bottles of Spanish cava.

On our side of the ocean, sales grew by more than a third in the United States, in the same time period.

Although I do not have exact figures, I would estimate that we sell twice as much prosecco in a week now as we did in a whole year ten years ago.

There are three ways to make a sparkling wine. The least expensive is to inject carbon dioxide gas into a still white wine and I do not believe that anyone here imports any of this lowest of levels.

Next there is the “Charmat” method that was invented by a Frenchman. The wine is made in a large tank that is sealed rather like a pressure cooker. The pressure builds up during fermentation and each bottle is filled from this tank. Prosecco is made in this way.

Thirdly, there is the champagne method, where each bottle is fermented on its own. As we go up through these levels the bubbles become more persistent and delicate and the price increases.

A friend of ours that has just visited from Italy said that he was worried about the potential price increase for the Glera grape that is used to make this popular sparkler. He told us of one pending order for the US, from a producer that we represent, for a six month’s supply that exceeded 1,000 containers of wine!

Lamarca prosecco is our newest arrival and after a year on the market it has become our most asked for. It is also number one in Britain.

Let me quote the winemaker: “This sparkling wine is pale, golden straw in colour. Bubbles are fully textured and persistent. On the nose the wine brings fresh citrus with hints of honey and white flowers. The flavours are fresh and clean with ripe citrus, lemon, green apple and touches of grapefruit, minerality and some toast.”

‘Wine Spectator’ rated it a very credible 90/100 and called it a delicate, well-balanced prosecco with a lightly creamy mineral texture on the palate. $19.45.

On a bottle of Santa Margherita prosecco you will see the word Valdobbiadene, which is a town and a vineyard area well known for the fine quality of its grapes.

Santa Margherita ferments at a cool 55°F to preserve aromatic potential of the fruit, and then they let it sit under pressure for three months to become really well-knit before bottling.

It is a fresh, youthful wine with a bright straw-yellow colour and greenish reflections. On the nose there are floral aromas of peach as well as hints of apples and pineapple.

I happen to feel that this producer has a very classy package design. $19.90 for bottles, $38.90 for magnums and $10.50 for half-bottles.

Canella is a small producer and their Canella Prosecco Superiore di Conegliano is brilliant straw yellow with fine, persistent bubbles, fruity aromas of peach, apple, pear and citrus fruit. It has zingy acidity and a subtle hint of sweetness, richness and silky-smooth texture. We stock bottles for $17.60 and little “piccolos” (quarter bottles) for $4.85.

• This column is a paid-for advertorial for Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. Michael Robinson is Director of Wine at Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. He can be contacted at mrobinson@bll.bm or 295-0176. Burrows Lightbourn have stores in Hamilton (Front Street East, 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355) and St George’s (York Street, 297-0409). A selection of their wines, beers and spirits is available online at www.wineonline.bm