Sorry wine snobs, this ‘naff’ £4.75 drink from the 70s actually tastes delicious

This drink was all the rage in the 70s, then it became naff (Picture: Getty Images) Blue Nun, Mateus Rosé, Black Tower, the straw-covered Ruffino Chianti bottles people used as a lamp or candle holder. Remember those? Certain bottles have a way of transporting you back to the 70s. Not that I’d know; that was way before my time. Ahem… And then, there was Asti. For a certain generation, the sweet Italian fizz was once the height of sophistication. It was wheeled out for special occasions like Christmas, birthdays, weddings, where it was probably served lukewarm, and everyone was fine about it. It represents a time when devilled eggs and fondue sets were all the rage. A time when Love Boat was playing on the telly, an era when lava lamps and shag carpets were ‘in’. Then somewhere along the way, someone decided it was naff, and just like that Asti was cancelled. Britain’s tastes became drier, Prosecco had arrived, and poor old Asti was shoved to the back of the drinks cabinet with Advocaat and Harvey’s Bristol Cream. Which is a shame that happened, as I’ve recently started drinking it again. And I’m afraid I have some troubling news for wine snobs; Asti is actually delicious. Asti was very popular in the 70s and 80s (Picture: Getty Images) What is Asti? Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. Many of us know it as Asti Spumante, ‘spumante’ meaning ‘foaming’ or ‘sparkling’. Although that word largely dropped off labels yonks ago. Long before Prosecco entered the chat, Asti Spumante was the undisputed king of imported Italian bubbles. While there were niche shipments during the 1950s, this spiked to tens of millions of bottles a year in the peak 1970s. You couldn’t move for TV adverts for Asti Spumante, sponsored by brands like Cinzano and Martini & Rossi. It offered the celebratory spirit of champagne without the breath-catching price tag. The fizz is made in Piedmont in northwestern Italy, mainly around the provinces of Asti, Alessandria and Cuneo. The same region that produces hyper-sophisticated red wines like Barolo and Barbaresco. Asti is made from one of the most gloriously aromatic grapes on the planet, Moscato Bianco. Wedge your nose into a glass of Asti Spumante, and I challenge you not to notice aromas of honeysuckle, pear, orange blossom, and grapes. Yes, grapes. It’s very rare for a wine expert to say a wine smells ‘grapey’, but you can get away with it when it comes to Asti. It’s made by the ‘Charmat Method’, the same method that’s used to produce Prosecco. The grapes are picked, pressed, and a first fermentation happens. The ‘wine’ is then placed in a pressurised tank, or autoclave, for its second fermentation; this is where the bubbles come to be. The alcohol is typically seven to nine per cent ABV. The fizz is made in Piedmont in northern Italy (Picture: Getty Images) What is Moscato d’Asti? It’s similar to Asti Spumante, but with a lower alcohol content of up to 5.5 per cent ABV. This is made by the ‘Asti Method’ where freshly pressed grape juice is cooled to near-freezing to preserve its aromas. When the winemaker is ready, the juice is then warmed up and sealed in a pressurised tank. Unlike Spumante, there is only one fermentation. Yeast is added, and fermentation takes place, converting the natural sugars into alcohol. But this is where the magic happens. The fermentation process is stopped by cooling when the wine reaches 5.5 ABV, leaving delicate bubbles and the grape’s unfermented sugar. The result is something feather-light, off-dry and floral, and crucially, with a fraction of the alcohol content of a typical glass of Pinot Grigio. Are you a fan of Asti? Sign up to Metro's The Slice newsletter for your guide to what's on in London, with trusted reviews, offers and giveaways. Why should we drink it now? This year, Asti scored an impressive number of medals in global wine competitions. One MW judge said: ‘There is a special place in heaven for a good Moscato d’Asti. It is not common to say so, but I think this is one of the world’s loveliest wine styles.’ One wine in particular was described as being ‘so light, you don’t even have to confess it to your doctor’. It seems that Asti is speaking to a new generation of drinkers who are looking for lower alcohol, freshness, perhaps a bit more sweetness and glass-loads of authenticity. You could probably add value for money to that. And because it acts like a sort of Swiss Army Knife for food pairing, particularly with East Asian dishes, Asti is going great guns in countries like China, Japan, and even the UAE. Which are some of the best? Now, I’ve tasted a few examples of Asti’s recently. Here are three Spumantes that stood out… Exceptional by Asda Asti, £4.75 This Asda bottle has won some gold medals (Picture: Asda) Winner of the Decanter World Wine Awards Gold Medal and the International Wine Challenge (IWC) Gold Medal 2026, this punches far above its weight. Coming in at 7% ABV, this is Spumante, and how indecently good it is, too. All off-dry, creamy, grapey and full of delicious white flower and lemon icing flavours. Lidl Asti Spumante Rosé, £4.99 Asti Rosé is tricky to find in the UK, so snap this up if you get the chance (Picture: Lidl) Yes, you read that correctly: Asti Rosé. The colour comes about from the Brachetto grape, which also adds a smidge of juicy strawberry notes. Asti Rosé is tricky to find in the UK, so snap this up if you get the chance. Italian Asti Spumante DOCG, M&S, £7.50 Delicious notes of meadow flowers, icing sugar, and lemon zest (Picture: M&S) Deals of the Day Topman’s new-season collection has arrived and prices start at just £10 An Instagram mattress left me with back pain – this one completely changed my mind Book Val d'Isère, Val Thorens and Tignes for less in Club Med's ski sale Save 25% on red light therapy masks, sauna blankets and sleep gadgets in Bon Charge sale The viral LED face mask with over 350 lights that's currently discounted by £100 With grapes sourced from specific vineyards in the Piedmont regions of Alessandria, Cuneo and Asti, this is a balanced, off-dry sparkler with decadently delicious notes of meadow flowers, Concorde grapes, icing sugar and lemon zest. Do you have a story you’d like to share? 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