“You will definitely wow your friends if Pignoletto rolls off your tongue,” says Belinda Chang, a sommelier and James Beard Award-winner for Outstanding Wine Service in 2011. The Italian sparkler has the potential to “stump your sommelier,” too, Chang says.

A frizzante wine from Emilia-Romagna, Pignoletto is light and fruity, with herbal aromas, citrus notes, and crisp apple flavors. Comparisons to that other bubbly Italian powerhouse, Prosecco, are inevitable; but Pignoletto typically has fewer sweet flavors and a longer finish.