Bottles we receive as gifts are marked with who its fromOur friend Terri gave us a bottle of La Marca Prosecco this past Christmas and told us it was one of her favorite sparkling white wines. Little did we know that this thoughtful gift would touch on virtually everything we love about wine.

Shared bottles are the best bottles

Wine always tastes better when it's shared, and sparkling wine is no different. We shared the bottle with Jeff's parents, Bob and Kathy, over breakfast last weekend. They both know Terri too, so we raised a glass in her honor. And, it was fun to experience a wine our friend enjoys. The verdict was in and she definitely has good taste. (Check out Terri's awesome cooking blog, A Girl in the South and you'll see what I mean.)

It's fun to taste and pair

Good relationships are all about chemistry and pairing wine with food is no different. Get it right and it's awesome. Get it wrong and both the food and wine suffer a little. Admittedly, this is where we screwed up a little by pairing the Prosecco with cranberry muffins, bacon, and fresh pineapple and blueberries. The Prosecco had crisp peach and apple flavors, but was too sweet for the muffins and bacon. A much better pairing would have been with a light, sweet cake such as coconut. It would also be terrific on its own.

New varietals are a chance to learn

We don't have a lot of experience with Prosecco, so the La Marca was a great chance to learn a few fun facts. Prosecco comes from a wine region in Northern Italy and is made from the Glera grape. It has some similarities to Champagne or Champagne-style sparkling wine, but there are also a few important differences:

• Prosecco is made using the Charmat method where the bubbles come from a secondary fermentation done in a tank rather than the Champagne method where this fermentation is done in the bottle.

• Prosecco is meant to be light and consumed young, so it doesn't age as well as a good Champagne.

• Prosecco is generally sweeter than Champagne-style sparkling wines.