First, Prosecco is a place that the grape Galera is named after and I didn’t really go to Prosecco. I went to Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG.

Sound confusing… Yes it is! Ok, so recap is. Prosecco is a village within the DOC growing area of Prosecco. But everyone calls the wine Prosecco which is what they used to call the grape Galera but now you can only call the wine that. Even more confusing is that Prosecco the town is not where you will find the best Prosecco. That is found in the very complicated to say area of Conegliano – Valdobbiadene. These are the two towns within the hilly area given the top honor of producing the DOCG (=extra fancy) Prosecco.

The villages between these towns are some of the most breathtaking wine growing areas I have visited. I must be honest and say that Prosecco has never been something I have been excited about however… I recently went on a trip with a group of international Sommeliers and Ian D’Agata. Ian is working on getting people to value the wines, grapes, traditions and culture of Italy. Not sure if the Italians know how lucky they are to have a spokesperson who values everything they offer; good, bad or in between. But they are! Back to the point… I never thought of it as exciting wine or area and I said “yes” to this trip to challenge what I thought about the region. I am so glad I did! The region is very interesting for many reasons. First the terroir of this area of Prosecco production is very complex (some soils even have fossils… that is enough to make most nerdy high acid white wine drinker excited- think Jura, Chablis, Champange). We can all agree that the best sparkling wines in the world come from Champange. However… If I had to pick what region to look at, live in or drive around I would pick Conegliano – Valdobbiadene. The area has crazy steep vineyards, Alps, Forest, breath taking views of sea and mountains and lots of biodiversity. The climate and soil types change drastically between the two villages. Conegliano is closer to Venice and has more rolling hills and milder climate. Valdobbiadene is more inland, more mountainous and has the exciting/confusing Grand Cru of the area called Cartizze. I tasted a few wines that were fabulous and have forever change how I think the region and the wines. That being said, I did taste way, way more wines that were exactly what I expected sweet and boring. That being said I am glad I went, it opened my eyes. It has nudged me a little further away from becoming the wine snob that I sometimes am. The people were warm and welcoming. The vineyards were steep and complex. The process of secondary fermentation in tank is still something I want to learn more about. If I ever end up in Venice with a day to spare. I will be back to ask more question about this funny fermentation.

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Neat things I learned on my trip to visit Conegliano – Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG

• That this is not at all the same a normal “Prosecco” from a terroir point of view
• That it is going to be very hard for them to tell people this to consumers with the name “Prosecco” on the label
• That the wine from this area should cost 5 euro more a bottle – because it is all hand harvested and as steep as the Mosel.
• That Galera is not the most exciting grape they grow but it makes the most sense. Perera is more aromatic and exciting and Verdiso is higher in acid and had more longevity. (they are both harder to grown and if you are only getting 5 Euro per bottles it makes sense they are out of favor)
• That a bother- sister team are running a small 4+ hectare winery Silvano Follador and making amazing wine! Better the most Champange (really, really amazing)
• Galera the grapes is often better with a touch of RS
• The Alps can cause such bad hail that it once wiped out an entire villages vineyard with baseball size chunks. Apparently it knocked the roof the chicken coop at one winery and killed all the chickens as well. The vines were destroyed and had to be replaced.

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Thank you https://www.iandagata.com/ and the Collisioni team for a very educationl experience.