Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene DOCG

DOCG area for sparkling wines (Spumante), sparkling wines (Frizzante) and still wines (Tranquillo) in the Italian region of Veneto. The former DOC area was highly qualified in 2009. The former IGT area Prosecco was classified as DOC area in this context. Alternatively, the designations Conegliano Prosecco or Valdobbiadene Prosecco are also permitted on the label, which is also mostly used by producers from the two municipalities due to local pride. Incidentally, the entire Prosecco area was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2019 in the category "Cultural Landscape"

The zone covers the hill area between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene with 4,500 hectares of vines in 15 municipalities. These are Cison di Valmarino, Colle Umberto, Conegliano, Farra di Soligo, Follina, Miane, Pieve di Soligo, Refrontolo, San Pietro di Feletto, San Vendemiano, Susegana, Tarzo, Valdobbiadene, Vidor and Vittorio Veneto in the province of Treviso. The Cartizze area is a south-facing site in the municipality of Valdobbiadene. It covers 107 hectares of vineyards in a purely southern exposure, distributed over the municipal districts of Saccol, San Pietro di Barbozza and Santo Stefano in the municipality of Valdobbiadene. This area is considered the best in terms of quality. For these wines, the designations Conegliano Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze or Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze can also be used.

The DOCG classification also introduced the new typology "Rive", derived from the local dialect, which applies to the 43 steepest hillsides (mutatis mutandis Grands Crus). Of these, 12 correspond to communal areas and 31 to sub-areas of communes. A Rive is produced from grapes of a commune or part of a commune exclusively as a spumante. It may only be marketed on 1 March of the year following the harvest. One possible designation is Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Rive di San Pietro.

With the upgrade to DOCG, the name was also changed in 2009. The former grape variety name Prosecco is now protected by EU law exclusively as a designation of origin. The wines must contain at least 85% Glera (formerly Prosecco Tondo), in the Cartizze area 100%, and the remaining 15% can be freely used from the varieties Bianchetta Trevigiana, Glera Lunga (formerly Prosecco Lunga), Perera and Verdiso. There are the wine types Prosecco (Tranquillo), Frizzante, Spumante Superiore and Spumante Superiore di Cartizze. The Spumante is produced in extra brut, brut, extra dry, dry and demi-sec flavours. From 2019, the "Sui Lieviti"(sur lie) type has been introduced. Another DOCG area for Prosecco in Veneto is Colli Asolani Prosecco.

Image: Consorzio Prosecco