Biking the Prosecco Wine Zone of Valdobbiadene

Prosecco Wine Road

 This week I have been riding in the Valdobbiadene area and Colli Congeliano hills while taking a few breaks, the one wine you will continue to encounter is Prosecco.  I have been learning alot about wines in the past years; one thing is that a style of Prosecco has been made as far back as the 1100’s,  but the wine does not resemble today’s version.

Prosecco as we know it today can trace its roots back to the 1868 with the founding of the Carpené Malvoti winery by Antonio Carpené, a winemaker and a chemist. He began to make his Prosecco in large tanks instead of allowing the fermentations to occur in bottles. This was possible by using  pressurized tanks, that had been created in France, to make wine, this is now known as the Charmat (named after the inventor) style.  In order to list the DOC name on the label, the wines must be at least 85% Prosecco grapes with up to 15% being Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and/or Verdiso. A maximum limit of 10% was set only for the use of the Verdisio grape. Wines must be at least 10.5% Alcohol by volume. Now the rules have changed and for a Prosecco to be labeled a Prosecco it must have orginated in the Colli Conegliano and Valdobbiadene Zone-  Any wine made outside this zone is now must be labeled vino fizzate.

The old style of Prosecco was a faintly effervescent wine that was made and consumed locally (similar to Moscato d’Asti). The wine is made from the prosecco grape (thought to hail from two possible orgins, one group contends it originated in the region of Friuli, another group believes the grape from the Friuli started as the Serprino grape, that was brought north by the Romans to the town of Este, that sits at the southern portion of the Eugenai Hills). The prosecco grape is a white grape that naturally ripens very late in the season, so growers were forced to wait until late in the harvest season to pick the grapes. The winemakers would crush the grapes and then their fermentations would be initiated. However, in the days before temperature control, winter would set in and the lower temperatures would halt the fermentation. The wine was then bottled. When the temperatures warmed the following spring, there would be carbon dioxide bubbles trapped in the wine giving it a light fizzy quality. Because the fermentations were not complete, the wine often was sweet from residual sugar left in the wine. That is, the yeast cells were killed by the cold before they converted all the sugar in the must to alcohol and CO2.

There are some differences between the Conegliano and Valdobbiadene areas. Conegliano wines are from the lower lying areas and they tend to be a bit fruitier especially showing more of a peach quality than a citrus one. The ones marked Valdobbiadene are from the higher elevations and tend to be crisper and citrusier. I prefer the Valdobbiadene wine because the crispness and refreshing nature of these wines is, in my opinion, one of its most positive characteristic.  

A smaller area also exists within the Valdobbiadene DOC zone called Cartizze, this wine is considered one of Italy’s “Grand Cru”. The vineary is made up of  about 205 acres the has become the source for the very best grape, that Prosecco has to offer. The wines are big, well made, and more serious, also the alcohol content must be at least 11%.  These wines do not fit into the usual Prosecco mold in terms of style, price or when to drink them, instead they are similar to lower level Champagnesand priced accordingly.  These wines are worth trying, and here in the Veneto we tend to use as a special occasion, where as best part of Prosecco is its refreshing qualities as an inexpensive aperitif.

If you are visiting the Veneto this area is one of the "not to miss" if you like biking or prosecco.