Bubbles Ahoy!: Prosecco and Lessini Durello, Veneto’s Knockout Sparklers

BY IAN D’AGATA | DECEMBER 13, 2016 

Prosecco: Fun in the Glass but a Whole Lot More Too

Prosecco can be made in two Italian regions, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia, an enormous swath of land subdivided amongst nine provinces and 556 communes. Admittedly, that’s a lot of land, and a lot of wines. Therefore, unlike with most other Italian denominazioni, it is extremely helpful for wine lovers to know what each stands for and delivers, for not all wines labeled Prosecco are of the same quality level.

Nino Franco's Glera vineyard in Grave di Stecca

The Prosecco Production Zone Pyramid

Not all Proseccos that will grace your glass are created equal. In fact, there are fewer wines in Italy that exhibit such a wide range in the precision and concentration of their aromas and flavors. In fact, differences can be so striking that anyone paying even a modicum of attention can appreciate them immediately. There are four denominations of Prosecco, representing a pyramid of quality. The base of the pyramid is made up by Prosecco DOC (or Denominazione di Origine Controllata), which encompasses 556 communes (and about 25,000 hectares of land), clearly the result of a charming, all-together now and the more-the-merrier attitude towards life, but one that is also very loosely grounded in terroir (or logic, for that matter). Clearly, an area so large presents widely differing soils, exposures, and microclimates. Using soils as an example, these run the gamut from the leaner terrains around the Piave River, the more fertile lands of the pianura padana, and the sandy soils near Venice. Commendably, the Prosecco DOC consortium is cognizant of the fact that the denomination, as is, is much too large, and are working towards zonation studies and the creation of subzones that will greatly help distinguish the Prosecco wines made within it, each with its own story to tell. Though there are some lovely Prosecco DOC wines to be had, there are far too many that contribute to Prosecco’s industrial, cheap tipple reputation. Next up the pyramid is Prosecco Treviso, a DOC wine that can be made in ninety-five (95) townships. These wines can range anywhere from the insipid and short to the solidly made and interesting, even outstanding; they almost always offer a step up in density and complexity of flavor with respect to generic entry level Prosecco. The top level of Prosecco wines are the two DOCGs (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita), named respectively Prosecco Asolo (or dei Colli Asolani) and Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore. The former extends over roughly one thousand hectares, while the latter is about 8,000 hectares large (sprawling over thirty-five communes).

While the Prosecco Asolo wines are still trying to establish an identity and organoleptic features specific to their wine production zone (even Italians have trouble telling you what an Asolo Prosecco should taste like and how or why it differs from others), those from Valdobbiadene are the pick of the litter. It is in the band of flatland and hillside vineyards extending from Conegliano to Valdobbiadene that Italy’s best Proseccos are made, thanks to geologically diverse soils and a unique microclimate created by the Dolomite mountains to the north (which protect the vineyards from cold northerly winds) and the Venice lagoon in the south, with its warm, northerly breezes. Generally speaking, Conegliano grapes, culled from clay-rich soils provide Prosecco with body, while grapes grown in the higher hillside vineyards of Valdobbiadene confer fragrance and freshness. It follows that historically producers often looked to blend grapes from these areas together. In fact, there is no doubt in my mind that the one true Grand Cru Prosecco area of Italy is Valdobbiadene; or more precisely, areas within the Valdobbiadene zone (Cartizze, like d’Yquem, is best thought of as a grand cru classé hors classe): the best examples of Prosecco from Valdobbiadene exude penetrating, perfumed and precise aromas and flavors that are simply not found in Proseccos from anywhere else. Forty-three single vineyard sites have been identified there and given official names (‘Rive’) and can be found on labels. Valdobbiadene vineyards can be extremely steep, which means a lot more work for producers: by comparison, while flatland vineyards require roughly 120 hours or less of work per hectare, Valdobbiadene’s Rive single vineyards can require as much as 700 or more (hours of work per hectare is a unit of measure indicating the number of hours worked on a hectare over the course of twelve months; clearly, the steeper the slope, the more hours are required, while flatland, machine-harvested vineyards that are obviously easier and faster to work require less work hours).