Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG

Viticulture in these hills is old: the disciplinare cites the inscriptions of Roman colonists as its earliest written evidence and the Statuti Coneglianesi of 1282 among later documents. According to the disciplinare and the consorzio, the first written reference linking Prosecco to the Conegliano Valdobbiadene hills came from Francesco Maria Malvolti, in volume VIII of the Giornale d'Italia in 1772. In 1868 Count Marco Giulio Balbi Valier, known for selecting the clone called Prosecco Balbi, published a booklet describing his vineyards (consorzio). The Scuola Enologica di Conegliano was founded in 1876, the first school of its kind in Italy according to the consorzio, followed in 1923 by the Stazione Sperimentale di Viticoltura e Enologia. On 7 June 1962 eleven producers formed the Consorzio di Tutela, and on 2 April 1969 the DOC was granted for Prosecco from the 15 communes. In 2003, according to the disciplinare, the Veneto Region recognised the area by establishing Italy's first sparkling-wine district. In 2009, as part of the reorganisation of the Prosecco denominations, the ministry classified Conegliano Valdobbiadene as a DOCG, alongside the Asolo DOCG and the Prosecco DOC, which extends over 9 provinces of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia (consorzio). The consorzio launched the UNESCO candidacy in 2008, the site entered the ministry's tentative list in 2010, and in 2019, at the 43rd UNESCO session in Baku, Le Colline del Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a cultural landscape shaped by the work of winegrowers.

• 1772: Francesco Maria Malvolti links Prosecco to the Conegliano Valdobbiadene hills in the Giornale d'Italia, the first such reference per the consorzio; 1876: the Scuola Enologica di Conegliano is founded, the first in Italy per the consorzio
• 7 June 1962: eleven producers form the Consorzio di Tutela; 2 April 1969: DOC recognition for Prosecco from the 15 communes
• 2009: DOCG status within the reorganisation of the Prosecco denominations, alongside the Asolo DOCG and the Prosecco DOC
• 2019: UNESCO World Heritage inscription at the 43rd session in Baku, after a candidacy the consorzio launched in 2008

The disciplinare describes a series of elongated 'hogback' ridges, running north-south in the southern part of the zone and east-west in the north, separated by small valleys. The Prealps to the north act as a natural barrier against cold currents, while to the south the zone enjoys the mild temperatures of the Venice lagoon, 40 km away. Only well-exposed hillside vineyards qualify: valley-floor sites, north-facing sites and low-plain sites are excluded. According to the consorzio, altitude ranges from 100 to 500 metres; the south-facing side of each ridge carries the vineyards, and the north-facing side is usually wooded. The consorzio gives an average annual temperature of 12.3°C and average rainfall of 1,250 mm, with frequent summer showers; its data sheet for 2024 records 1,847.6 mm of rain and a mean temperature of 15.8°C for that year. The disciplinare notes a night-time thermal inversion, with cool air descending the slopes from the Prealps, that brings marked day-night temperature swings during ripening. Soils formed from uplifted sea beds later reworked by glaciers and rivers; sandstone and marl predominate, alternating with morainic and alluvial layers (disciplinare). The consorzio describes the ciglione, a form of terracing built of grassed earth instead of stone, as a hallmark of the UNESCO landscape, and estimates that ciglioni covered 20% of the area in 2015 against 28% in 1960. The consorzio adds that glacier-reworked soils are deep conglomerates of rock and sand with much clay and sometimes iron, while marine soils of marl and sandstone are shallower and drain more freely, and that the hills are gentler around Conegliano and steeper and fully south-facing around Valdobbiadene.

• Hogback ridges; vineyards on hillsides only, with valley floors, north-facing sites and low plain excluded by the disciplinare
• Altitude 100 to 500 m (consorzio); south-facing slopes planted, north-facing slopes usually wooded
• The Prealps shelter the zone from cold currents, the Venice lagoon 40 km south moderates temperatures, and a night-time inversion drives day-night swings (disciplinare)
• Soils of sandstone and marl with morainic and alluvial layers; deeper glacial soils and gentler hills near Conegliano, steeper south-facing slopes near Valdobbiadene (consorzio)

Glera is the base variety, and up to 15% of Verdiso, Bianchetta trevigiana, Perera and Glera lunga may be used, alone or together. For the spumante, the disciplinare also allows the traditional addition of up to 15% of wines from Chardonnay, Pinot bianco, Pinot grigio and Pinot nero (the last two vinified white), provided the minor varieties and these wines together stay within 15%; the practice is not allowed for sui lieviti or for the aromatic-type quality spumante category. The disciplinare describes Glera as a vigorous variety that has found in these hills the conditions for good sugar accumulation while keeping its malic acidity and aromatic substances. Spumante is the core of the denomination: the disciplinare says more than 90% of production is sparkling, and the consorzio's data sheet puts the spumante share of 2024 bottles at 95%. Its second fermentation takes place in autoclave by the Martinotti method, which the disciplinare says Professor De Rosa perfected and codified at Conegliano in the second half of the 1900s; the consorzio names him as Tullio De Rosa, author of Tecnologia dei Vini Spumanti. The disciplinare permits spumante from Extra Brut to Demi-Sec, and the consorzio lists Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry and Dry, distinguished by residual sugar. Sui lieviti, locally called col fondo, is refermented in bottle without removing the lees, sold as Brut Nature, made from a single vintage, and released after at least ninety days of fermentation and time on the lees. Frizzante, with a maximum of 2.5 bar against a minimum of 3 bar for spumante, and the still Tranquillo are made in much smaller volumes, and their labels do not add Superiore to Prosecco (consorzio).

• Glera plus up to 15% Verdiso, Bianchetta trevigiana, Perera and Glera lunga, alone or together
• Traditional practice: up to 15% of Chardonnay and Pinot wines in the spumante, within a combined 15% ceiling with the minor varieties
• Autoclave second fermentation by the Martinotti method, perfected and codified at Conegliano by Professor Tullio De Rosa (disciplinare, consorzio)
• Sui lieviti (col fondo): bottle-refermented, Brut Nature, single vintage, at least 90 days on the lees; it cannot carry the terms Rive or Millesimato

The Superiore di Cartizze subzone lies in the frazione of San Pietro di Barbozza in the comune of Valdobbiadene. The disciplinare gives its size as 106 ha, and the consorzio's data sheet records 106 ha for the 2023 harvest, while the consorzio's website gives 107 ha across the steepest hills of San Pietro di Barbozza, Santo Stefano and Saccol, regulated since 1969. The disciplinare describes slopes whose gradient and southern exposure form a kind of natural amphitheatre. Cartizze is reserved for spumante: yields are capped at 12 t/ha, grapes must be picked by hand, and vinification must take place within the comune of Valdobbiadene; labels read "Conegliano Valdobbiadene" Superiore di Cartizze or simply "Valdobbiadene" Superiore di Cartizze. Writing for Decanter in 2020, James Button noted that Cartizze wines are traditionally Dry. The subzone produced 1,122,870 bottles in 2024 (consorzio). The Rive mention adds the name of one of 43 communes, frazioni or localities listed in Annex A of the disciplinare; in the local dialect the word means the steep slopes of the hills (consorzio). Rive grapes come from a single comune or frazione and must be picked by hand, yields are capped at 13.0 t/ha, the vintage must appear on the label, and the wine may be released only from 1 March of the year after the harvest. Rive covered 370 ha for the 2023 harvest and produced 3,206,405 bottles in 2024 (consorzio).

• Superiore di Cartizze: 106 ha in San Pietro di Barbozza, Valdobbiadene (disciplinare; 2023 harvest per the consorzio); spumante only, 12 t/ha, hand harvest, vinified within Valdobbiadene
• Cartizze output in 2024: 1,122,870 bottles (consorzio); traditionally Dry, per Decanter (2020)
• Rive: 43 communes or frazioni listed in Annex A; 13.0 t/ha, hand harvest, vintage on the label, release from 1 March after the harvest
• Rive area for the 2023 harvest: 370 ha; 2024 output: 3,206,405 bottles (consorzio); Decanter (2020) calls Rive a qualitative step up from the base DOCG

The consorzio's 2024 data sheet counts, for 2023, 3,262 grape growers, 427 winemakers and 212 sparkling-wine houses in the denomination. Of the 2024 bottles, 50.1 million were sold in Italy and 38.1 million were exported to more than 180 countries, led by Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland and the United States. Nino Franco says its Rustico has been made since the 1970s and became a Charmat-method sparkling wine in 1979, and that its Primo Franco was among the earliest Proseccos to carry a vintage on the label, from the 1983 harvest. Decanter's 2023 travel guide credits Giulio Bortolomiol with creating the first Prosecco Brut in 1960 and describes Villa Sandi as one of the first producers of a drier Cartizze Brut. The Strada del Prosecco, established in 1966, was the first wine road recognised in Italy (consorzio); Decanter describes it as a 90 km loop. The consorzio's main annual event is Vino in Villa, the festival of Prosecco Superiore held on the third weekend of May in the heart of the denomination.

• 2023: 3,262 grape growers, 427 winemakers and 212 sparkling-wine houses (consorzio 2024 data sheet)
• 2024: 50.1 million bottles sold in Italy and 38.1 million exported to more than 180 countries; top five export markets Germany, United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland and United States (consorzio)
• Strada del Prosecco (1966): the first wine road recognised in Italy (consorzio), a 90 km loop (Decanter, 2023)
• Vino in Villa, the consorzio's Prosecco Superiore festival, is held on the third weekend of May

Primary sources (MASAF disciplinare, the Consorzio di Tutela del Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG, and producers' own sites for their wines): https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Fa%252Fe%252FD.8495fb8195fb9f88e44b/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/7z?mode=download, https://www.prosecco.it/it/conegliano-valdobbiadene-prosecco-superiore-docg/, https://www.prosecco.it/it/conegliano-valdobbiadene-prosecco-superiore-docg/tipologie/, https://www.prosecco.it/it/territorio/, https://www.prosecco.it/it/territorio/la-storia/, https://www.prosecco.it/it/territorio/unesco/, https://www.prosecco.it/it/consorzio/chi-siamo/, https://www.prosecco.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Scheda_dati_2024.pdf, https://www.ninofranco.it/en/wines/rustico, https://www.ninofranco.it/en/wines/primo-franco, https://www.andreola.eu/en/wine/mas-de-fer-valdobbiadene-docg-extradry/?lang=en, https://ruggeri.it/en/vini/gialloro/?lang=en. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/premium/understanding-prosecco-conegliano-valdobbiadene-superiore-445550/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/italy/decanter-travel-guide-conegliano-valdobbiadene-prosecco-venice-italy-269468/. Last verified 2026-09-25