If there’s an official wine of today’s 21-something generation, it’s the Italian bubbly prosecco. U.S. sippers buy a million cases a year, up 35 percent since 2011, according to a Wine Spectator magazine website.

Why? It’s cheap — one-third the price of big-label champagnes. It’s pleasant. Often lightly sweet, it avoids the tartness and austerity of more expensive sparkling wines. It’s lower in alcohol at 10 or 11 percent, as opposed to 12 percent or more for other bubblies

Prosecco is made in two styles, “frizzante” or lightly sparkling, and “spumante,” with sturdier bubbles. In both case, the bubbles are softer, almost creamy, because they’re under lower pressure than in other sparkling wines. Many hosts serve it at around 40 degrees, a bit cooler than traditional sparkling wines, to avoid frothiness.

Prosecco doesn’t put on airs. At around $20 a bottle, it’s fair game for mixers, from strawberries to pomegranate to aromatic bitters or even limoncello.

Prosecco is made mostly from an ancient, northern Italian grape sometimes called Glera, other times called Prosecco after a nearby village in Veneto, the area around Venice.

It gets its bubbles via the Charmat method, a secondary fermentation in giant stainless steel tanks, unlike up-market champagnes and sparkling wines, which get them by secondary fermentation inside the bottle.

Prosecco’s trendiest use is as an aperitif, poured in a tall flute so the drinker can watch its bubbles rise. Some, of course, drink it through the meal, with light fare such as raw oysters, shellfish, sushi, tuna tartare and simply prepared fish dishes.

So, parents, if your progeny graduate from college and move back home into their old bedrooms, you now know how to stock the fridge.

Highly recommended

•  Nonvintage “OGIO” Prosecco DOC: light yellow hue, aromas and flavors of ripe peaches, quite dry, tart finish; $17.

•  Nonvintage “Bosco di Gica” Brut Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG: golden hue, delicate mousse, very crisp, golden-apple aromas and flavors; $18.

•  2012 La Tordera Prosecco Alné Millesimato DOC Valdobbiadene: very dry, lightly bubbly, with floral aromas and flavors of lemons and limes; $12.

•  2011 “Col Credas” Brut Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di Farra di Soligo DOCG: light yellow, floral aromas, flavors of ripe pears, very dry, crisp; $22.

Recommended

•  Nonvintage Cantina Colli del Soligo Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Extra Dry, DOCG: light, bubbly and off-dry, with floral aromas and green pear flavors; $16.

•  Nonvintage La Marca Prosecco, DOC: soft bubbles, creamy, hint of toast, lightly sweet, aromas and flavors of white grapefruit and minerals, $17.

•  Nonvintage “IL” Prosecco, by Mionetto, DOC: golden color, quite dry, floral aromas, flavors of pink grapefruit and minerals; $14.

•  Nonvintage Casa Vinicola Zonin Prosecco Spumante Brut, DOC, Veneto, Italy: lively mousse, light bodied, floral aromas, flavors of golden apples, very dry; $15.

•  Nonvintage Adami “Garbel” Prosecco, VSAQ Colli del’ Alta Marca Trevigiana: light yellow hue, active mousse, quite dry, aromas and flavors of ripe apples; $15.

•  2011 “Vigneto Giardino” Dry Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di Colbertaldo, DOCG: light yellow, ripe peach aromas and flavors; $22.