The Veneto region
The Veneto region with a production of approximately 7 million hectolitre per year is one of the major wine provinces in Italy. At the same time it is a wine province with a very long wine history. Even before the rise of the Roman Empire, grapes for viniculture were planted in Veneto. Even in those days, the division between vineyards on the plains for simple, everyday wines and those in the hills producing beautiful wines, was applicable. The age-old tradition of making wine from dried grapes such as Amarone (Valpolicella) and Recioto (Soave) was preserved. These wines both originate from the western part of Veneto, north of the city Verona. This was an important Roman centre, and still has one of the most beautiful and best preserved Roman amphitheatres in Italy. In the summer, people from far and near arrive to enjoy the classic operas performed here.
The wine region of the eastern part of Veneto is located north of Venice, including around the Treviso hills. Here, near the small city of Valdobbiadene, many Prosecco can be found based on the highly popular, graceful, semi-sparkling wine made from grapes of the same name, the Prosecco grape. The vineyards for the Prosecco are located in a hilly area, at a height between 200 and 400 metres. Since the direct vicinity includes many mountains up to a height of 1,575 metres, it rains regularly which is common in all mountain areas. This is why only white grapes are planted, which can usually be harvested before the autumn rains definitely sets in.
For Prosecco, entitled to their own Denominazione di Origine Controllata since 1969, a total of more than 3,900 hectare vineyards have been planted. The 150 wine companies active in this region mainly purchase basic wines and / or grapes at the cooperations. Only 10 wine companies are not held to take such action since they have their own vineyards, with which they can realise nearly their entire Prosecco production. At most they will need to buy only part of their needs at the cooperation. Incidentally, most Prosecco is "frizzante", which means semi-sparkling, with a carbon dioxide pressure of less than 3,5 bar. For comparison purposes: Champagne has a carbon dioxide pressure of approximately 6 bar. However, the production of standard sparkling wine steadily rises at the expense of the frizzante. In 1994 more than 18 million bottles were bottled, in 2000 this number increased to nearly 27 (!) million bottles. In the Prosecco region half of the working population is involved in wine.
