THE D.O.C.G. ZONE THE PRODUCTION AREA WHERE PROSECCO IS SUPERIOR

The area lies in the Veneto, 50 km from Venice, in the hilly strip of the Province of Treviso lying between the small towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. It is equidistant from the Dolomites and the Adriatic, a particular situation that has a positive effect on the climate. The terrain is difficult to cultivate but with a special charm, with its vineyards perched high on the steep hillsides where it is hard even to remain standing. Here the vine-growers have made the hillsides their own a centimetre at a time, thus creating a unique landscape whose beauty is such that the producers have applied for the area to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The production zone comprises fifteen communes and stretches over an area of around 20,000 hectares. Vines are grown only on the most sunny parts of the hills, at altitudes varying between 50 and 500 metres above sea level, while the north-facing slopes are covered mainly in woodland.

5,000 hectares of vineyards are entered in the official D.O.C.G. Register, and of these just over 100 are in the Cartizze subzone in the commune of Valdobbiadene, which lies between the hamlets of Saccol, San Pietro di Barbozza and Santo Stefano. The climate throughout the area is mild, with not excessively cold winters and hot but not muggy summers, with the result that, in the past, the nobility of Venice liked to spend their summers in these parts in order to escape from the humidity of the lagoon. The Prosecco produced in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene area represents a synthesis of history and “naturally” superior quality. Conegliano, the heart of local wine culture, is the site of Italy’s first Oenological School and also of its first Research Institute for Viticulture; Valdobbiadene, the heart of the actual production zone, has the greater concentration of high hillside vineyards. There is also a third element: the men and women who, through their passion for their land and for their product, have always expressed – and continue to do so – the unique, inimitable character of Conegliano Valdobbiadene.

Throughout its extraordinary history, the Conegliano Valdobbiadene zone has made Prosecco into an extraordinary success story, creating over the course of time a modern, informal and vivacious Italian-Style drink that is appreciated and enjoyed all over the world.

Conegliano Valdobbiadene, which gained D.O.C.G. recognition in 2009, represents the top of the quality pyramid for Prosecco, a wine that is produced exclusively in North-Eastern Italy in the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia Regions.