Veneto Region Wines

Veneto lies in northeastern Italy at the top of the Adriatic Sea, with Venice as its capital and largest city and Verona nearly as large. The wine region is centred on Verona in the hinterland of Venice: Bardolino on the shores of Lake Garda, Valpolicella and Soave near Verona, Colli Berici and Colli Euganei around Vicenza and Padua, and Prosecco to the east across the Piave river. In Valpolicella, low and middle hillside zones up to 300 metres yield grapes with good sugar, average acidity, and high malic acid, while the lower valley floors produce Valpolicella of moderate alcohol with floral notes. The Lessini mountains to the north, the nearness of Lake Garda, and south-facing slopes give Valpolicella a mild climate, with Lake Garda's mild influence combined with cooler breezes from the mountains. Bardolino has warm but not sultry summers and mild winters that also allow olive growing.

• Veneto's landmarks beyond Venice and Verona include Padua, Vicenza, the Dolomite Alps, and Lake Garda.
• Valpolicella's average annual rainfall runs from 850 to 1,000 mm, and its vineyards reach altitudes of up to 500 metres.
• Bardolino comes from the morainic hills on Lake Garda's eastern shore, shaped by glaciers.
• Soave's soils are mostly of volcanic origin, with decomposed basalt giving dark clay-loam soils and limestone outcrops giving lower yields.

Veneto's primary grape varieties are Glera, Garganega, Merlot, Corvina, and Pinot Grigio. On the red side, Corvina Veronese and Corvinone, blended with Rondinella, anchor the Valpolicella family: the rules for Valpolicella, Valpolicella Ripasso, Amarone, and Recioto della Valpolicella all require 45% to 95% Corvina Veronese and/or Corvinone and 5% to 30% Rondinella. Corvina is the principal variety, and Molinara, once required in Valpolicella, is now optional. Garganega, an appley white, is the white backbone, at least 70% of Soave. Glera is the base of Prosecco. Lugana DOC is made from Trebbiano di Soave, known locally as Turbiana or Trebbiano di Lugana. Delle Venezie DOC Pinot Grigio must contain at least 85% Pinot Grigio, in a denomination covering Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and the autonomous province of Trento. International varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet, and Pinot Bianco go into the Colli Berici and Colli Euganei wines, and Raboso and Refosco reds come from the plains near the Piave.

• Valpolicella DOC, Ripasso DOC, Amarone DOCG, and Recioto DOCG: 45% to 95% Corvina Veronese and/or Corvinone, 5% to 30% Rondinella, and up to 25% of other permitted varieties.
• Bardolino DOC: 35% to 95% Corvina Veronese, with Corvinone allowed to replace up to 20%, and 5% to 40% Rondinella.
• Soave DOC: at least 70% Garganega, with Trebbiano di Soave and Chardonnay up to 30%.
• Lugana DOC: Turbiana, with up to 10% of other non-aromatic white varieties.

The Valpolicella area makes four traditional wines: Valpolicella DOC, Valpolicella Ripasso DOC, Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, and Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG, the sweet ancestor of Amarone. The area is made up of 11 valleys running north to south from the Lessinia mountains toward Verona, with the historic Classico zone between Verona and Lake Garda; the Classico communes are Negrar, Marano, Fumane, Sant'Ambrogio, and San Pietro in Cariano. Valpolicella Superiore must age at least one year from 1 January after the harvest. Valpolicella Ripasso is Valpolicella refermented on the pomace left after Amarone or Recioto is drawn off, and it is Valpolicella's top-selling style. Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG is a dry red made by drying the harvested grapes, laid in a single layer in wooden or plastic crates or on bamboo racks in airy lofts called fruttai for 100 or 120 days, until they lose at least half their weight. This appassimento process concentrates sugars and polyphenols; the Appassimento article covers the method in detail. The dried grapes must reach a natural potential alcohol of at least 14% and cannot be vinified before 1 December. The resulting wine must reach a minimum of 14% ABV and undergo at least 2 years of aging from 1 January after the harvest before release. Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG uses the same dried grapes, but fermentation is stopped to keep the sugar the style needs. Bardolino, in essence a lighter cousin of Valpolicella, has a rosé version called Chiaretto; Bardolino DOC dates from 1968 and Bardolino Superiore became a DOCG in 2001.

• Amarone DOCG: 45% to 95% Corvina Veronese and/or Corvinone, 5% to 30% Rondinella; minimum 14% alcohol; Riserva ages at least 4 years from 1 November of the harvest year.
• Ripasso DOC: the liquid from the Amarone or Recioto pomace must be 10% to 15% of the wine's volume, and the wine cannot be released before 1 January of the second year after the harvest.
• The first commercial bottle of Amarone della Valpolicella dates to 1953 and the first DOC rules to 1968; ministerial decrees of 24 March 2010 made the four Valpolicella wines separate denominations.
• Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG: dried grapes rested in fruttai for 100 to 120 days, with fermentation halted to retain sugar.

Prosecco, which Jancis Robinson calls north-east Italy's favourite sparkling wine, is based on the Glera grape. Prosecco DOC requires vineyards of Glera, with up to 15% of Verdiso, Bianchetta trevigiana, Perera, Glera lunga, Chardonnay, Pinot bianco, Pinot grigio, and Pinot nero allowed. The DOC was recognized in 2009, and its zone covers the provinces of Belluno, Gorizia, Padova, Pordenone, Treviso, Trieste, Udine, Venezia, and Vicenza. The spumante is made by the Martinotti method, a natural refermentation of the base wine in large vessels or autoclaves. Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco, a DOC from 1969 and a DOCG from 2009, covers the hills of 15 communes in the province of Treviso: Conegliano, San Vendemiano, Colle Umberto, Vittorio Veneto, Tarzo, Cison di Valmarino, San Pietro di Feletto, Refrontolo, Susegana, Pieve di Soligo, Farra di Soligo, Follina, Miane, Vidor, and Valdobbiadene. Its rules list 43 geographic units that may accompany the Rive mention, which distinguishes vineyards in single communes or hamlets, and reserve Superiore di Cartizze for spumante from a subzone of only 106 hectares in Valdobbiadene. Grapes for Cartizze, Rive, and sui lieviti wines must be picked by hand. Asolo Prosecco DOCG, approved as a DOCG in 2009, is also Glera-based. Jancis Robinson calls Conegliano Valdobbiadene the best zone, with the hill of Cartizze acknowledged as the most favourable site within it.

• Prosecco DOC spumante rosé: 85% to 90% Glera and 10% to 15% Pinot nero.
• Conegliano Valdobbiadene: DOC in 1969, DOCG in 2009, 15 communes in the province of Treviso.
• Rive: 43 geographic units listed in the rules; Superiore di Cartizze: a 106-hectare subzone reserved for spumante.
• Prof. De Rosa perfected and codified autoclave Martinotti sparkling production at Conegliano in the second half of the 1900s.

Jancis Robinson calls Soave the Veneto's most famous white wine ambassador. Good Soave, more likely labelled Classico or Superiore, tends to be straw coloured with a flavour reminiscent of almonds and apples. Both Soave DOC and Soave Superiore DOCG require at least 70% Garganega, with Trebbiano di Soave and Chardonnay up to 30%. The area's soils are mostly of volcanic origin, and the hills with limestone outcrops give lower yields and wines of great aromatic complexity. Soave DOC may be released after 1 December of the harvest year, and Soave Classico and Soave Colli Scaligeri after 1 February of the following year. Soave Superiore DOCG, approved in 2001, may be released from 1 April of the year after the harvest, and its Riserva from 1 November of that year. Recioto di Soave DOCG, a refreshingly sweet white, requires at least 70% Garganega and a natural potential alcohol of at least 14% after the grapes are dried. Beyond Soave, local whites include Lugana, just over the border in Lombardy, and Bianco di Custoza, and Gambellara is made just east of Soave. Delle Venezie DOC, covering Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and the autonomous province of Trento, includes a Pinot Grigio of at least 85% Pinot Grigio.

• Soave DOC: at least 70% Garganega; release after 1 December of the harvest year, or after 1 February of the following year for Classico and Colli Scaligeri.
• Soave Superiore DOCG: release from 1 April of the year after the harvest; Riserva from 1 November of that year.
• Lugana DOC, approved in 1967, is classed under both Lombardy and Veneto and is made from Turbiana.
• Recioto di Soave DOCG: sweet white from dried grapes, not released before 1 September of the year after the harvest.

The first cultivation of Vitis vinifera in Valpolicella is attributed to the Paleo-Venetian or Etruscan-Rhaetic civilization that flourished between the 7th and 5th centuries BC. Amarone's ancestry traces to Acinatico, a dried-grape wine that Cassiodorus, minister to Theodoric, requested for the royal table, and in the Enlightenment era Scipione Maffei proposed the word amaro for the wine. The first written mention of Prosecco cultivation in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene hills is by Francesco Maria Malvolti in 1772, and Italy's first School of Viticulture and Enology was founded at Conegliano in 1876. Among producers, Jancis Robinson lists Allegrini, Boscaini, Dal Forno, Masi, Quintarelli, Santi, Trabucchi, and Tedeschi as reliably superior Valpolicella producers, and credits Anselmi and Pieropan with having shown for years how much more Soave can be. Masi, run by the Boscaini family, celebrated its 250th harvest in 2022, and the Serego Alighieri estate, part of the Masi group, has been owned by descendants of Dante Alighieri since his son Pietro bought it in 1353. Jancis Robinson credits the producer Fausto Maculan and the local Vespaiolo grape with putting Breganze DOC on the world's wine map.

• Jancis Robinson's reliably superior Valpolicella producers: Allegrini, Boscaini, Dal Forno, Masi, Quintarelli, Santi, Trabucchi, and Tedeschi.
• For Soave, Jancis Robinson names Anselmi and Pieropan, with Gini, Inama, Prà, and Tamellini among the producers now rivalling them.
• Allegrini's Palazzo della Torre uses dried grapes, rather than just skins, for its second fermentation, a double-fermentation technique that differs from Ripasso.
• Italy's first wine road was created in the Conegliano Valdobbiadene area in 1966.

Primary sources (MASAF, Italy's Ministry of Agriculture: DOP list and production rules for Amarone della Valpolicella, Recioto della Valpolicella, Valpolicella, Valpolicella Ripasso, Soave, Soave Superiore, Recioto di Soave, Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco, Prosecco, Bardolino, Bardolino Superiore, Lugana, delle Venezie, and Asolo Prosecco): https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/4625, https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Fd%252F5%252FD.fd1629819dea12c20cf4/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/pdf?mode=download, 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.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252F2%252F3%252FD.8ccd09a077f2ec35dc9b/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/7z?mode=download, https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Ff%252F6%252FD.b5bdd1dbb38eb7253e5a/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/7z?mode=download. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine/touring-valpolicella-494988/, https://italianwinecentral.com/region-province/veneto/, https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/wine-regions/italy/veneto. Last verified 2026-10-05