Veneto Region Wines

Italian Wine Central places Veneto in northeastern Italy at the top of the Adriatic Sea, with Venice as its capital and largest city and Verona nearly as large. Jancis Robinson describes a region 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, according to the MASAF rules for Valpolicella DOC. The same rules credit the Lessini mountains to the north, the nearness of Lake Garda, and south-facing slopes with Valpolicella's mild climate, and Decanter describes Lake Garda's mild influence combined with cooler mountain breezes. The Bardolino rules describe warm but not sultry summers and mild winters that also allow olive growing.

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

Italian Wine Central names Glera, Garganega, Merlot, Corvina, and Pinot Grigio as Veneto's primary grape varieties. On the red side, Corvina Veronese and Corvinone, blended with Rondinella, anchor the Valpolicella family: the MASAF 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. Decanter calls Corvina the principal variety and notes that Molinara, once required in Valpolicella, is now optional. Garganega is the white backbone, at least 70% of Soave under its MASAF rules, and Jancis Robinson describes it as appley. Glera is the base of Prosecco. Lugana DOC is made from Trebbiano di Soave, known locally as Turbiana or Trebbiano di Lugana, per its MASAF rules. 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. Jancis Robinson notes international varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet, and Pinot Bianco in the Colli Berici and Colli Euganei, and Raboso and Refosco reds on 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 (MASAF).
• Bardolino DOC: 35% to 95% Corvina Veronese, with Corvinone allowed to replace up to 20%, and 5% to 40% Rondinella (MASAF).
• Soave DOC: at least 70% Garganega, with Trebbiano di Soave and Chardonnay up to 30% (MASAF).
• Lugana DOC: Turbiana, with up to 10% of other non-aromatic white varieties (MASAF).

Decanter lists four traditional wines of the Valpolicella area: Valpolicella DOC, Valpolicella Ripasso DOC, Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, and Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG, which it calls the sweet ancestor of Amarone. Decanter describes an area of 11 valleys running north to south from the Lessinia mountains toward Verona, with the historic Classico zone between Verona and Lake Garda; the MASAF Amarone rules name Negrar, Marano, Fumane, Sant'Ambrogio, and San Pietro in Cariano as the Classico communes. Under its MASAF rules, 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 Decanter calls Ripasso Valpolicella's top-selling style. Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG is a dry red made by drying the harvested grapes: its MASAF rules describe laying them 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, per its MASAF rules. Bardolino, which Jancis Robinson calls basically a lightweight Valpolicella, has a rosé version called Chiaretto; Bardolino DOC dates from 1968 and Bardolino Superiore became a DOCG in 2001, per their MASAF rules.

• 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 (MASAF).
• 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 (MASAF).
• The MASAF Amarone rules date the first commercial bottle of Amarone della Valpolicella 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 (MASAF).

Jancis Robinson calls Prosecco north-east Italy's favourite sparkling wine, based on the Glera grape. The MASAF rules for Prosecco DOC require 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. For the spumante, the rules describe 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 (MASAF).
• Conegliano Valdobbiadene: DOC in 1969, DOCG in 2009, 15 communes in the province of Treviso (MASAF).
• Rive: 43 geographic units listed in the rules; Superiore di Cartizze: a 106-hectare subzone reserved for spumante (MASAF).
• The Conegliano Valdobbiadene rules credit Prof. De Rosa with perfecting and codifying 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 and describes good Soave, more likely labelled Classico or Superiore, as straw coloured with a flavour reminiscent of almonds and apples. The MASAF rules require at least 70% Garganega, with Trebbiano di Soave and Chardonnay up to 30%, for both Soave DOC and Soave Superiore DOCG. Per the Soave rules, 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, which Jancis Robinson describes as refreshingly sweet, requires at least 70% Garganega and a natural potential alcohol of at least 14% after the grapes are dried. Beyond Soave, Jancis Robinson names Lugana, just over the border in Lombardy, and Bianco di Custoza as local whites, and Gambellara as 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 (MASAF).
• Soave Superiore DOCG: release from 1 April of the year after the harvest; Riserva from 1 November of that year (MASAF).
• Lugana DOC, approved in 1967, is listed by MASAF 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 (MASAF).

The MASAF Valpolicella rules attribute the first cultivation of Vitis vinifera there to the Paleo-Venetian or Etruscan-Rhaetic civilization that flourished between the 7th and 5th centuries BC. The Amarone rules trace the wine's ancestry to Acinatico, a dried-grape wine that Cassiodorus, minister to Theodoric, requested for the royal table, and credit Scipione Maffei with proposing the word amaro for the wine in the Enlightenment era. The Conegliano Valdobbiadene rules date the first written mention of Prosecco cultivation in those hills to Francesco Maria Malvolti in 1772, and record the founding of Italy's first School of Viticulture and Enology 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. Decanter reports that Masi, run by the Boscaini family, celebrated its 250th harvest in 2022, and that 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.
• Decanter: Allegrini's Palazzo della Torre uses dried grapes, rather than just skins, for its second fermentation, a technique Decanter distinguishes from Ripasso.
• The Conegliano Valdobbiadene rules also record Italy's first wine road, created in the 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 2026-09-25