Ten things you should know about Prosecco

1. Prosecco is made from Glera grapes.
2. There are two categories of Prosecco: the DOC (Treviso and Trieste) and the DOCG (Asolo and Conegliano-Valdobbiadene).
3. Most Prosecco DOC is produced from vineyards in the flatlands; Prosecco DOCG is produced from hillside vineyards.
4. Cartizze is also made from Glera grapes (as is Prosecco) but it is obtained from a particular production zone inside the Valdobbiadene zone.
5. Prosecco cannot be sold in kegs or demijohns (nor can Cartizze).
6. “Vino con bollicine” or “wine with bubbles” is not a synonym for Prosecco.
7. The wines can be classified as “frizzante” (when the pressure is less than 2.5 atmospheres; “spumante” (metodo Martinotti), “metodo classico (like the wines made in Champagne, Franciacorta, or Trento DOC), or Colfòndo (second fermentation in bottle).
8. When the DOCG wines are made as “spumante,” they are also labeled as “superiore.”
9. The base wine for spumante can be “cut” with up to 15% of indigenous grapes (Verdiso, Bianchetta Trevigiana, Perera, Glera Lunga) or international grape varieties (like Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, or Pinot Nero that has been vinified as a white wine).
10. Given the fact that the wine is worth roughly €2 plus tax at the winery, I would try to avoid wines that cost €2.50 at the supermarket (considering that that price includes tax, markup, transportation, and packaging)
    Luca Ferraro
, Grape Grower,
 Bele Casel

University of Padua

The University of Padua, located in the center of the city, was founded in 1222 as a school of law. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second oldest in Italy. The University of Padua is one of Italy’s leading universities with more than 60.000 student and ranks in the first position in all the recent ranking of Italian large universities. In 1594 the first anatomical theatre in the world was built here.

Our host in Padua: Professor Luca Rossetto
E-Mail: luca.rossetto@unipd.it