Where and when was prosecco first made?
Prosecco has been made ever since the time of the Roman Empire: the sparkling white wine, known back then as pucino, was first made up in the limestone hills framing the Gulf of Trieste, where the locality ‘Torre di Prosecco’ once existed. And it was here that the Glera grapevine was first cultivated. Pucino was celebrated by Pliny, the Roman author and naturalist, in his Naturalis Historia; and it was favoured by Livia, wife of Emperor Augustus, for its medicinal qualities. The wine was even mentioned by Galen, the Greek physician, in the 1st century AD, and this contributed to pucino wine becoming widely renown as a therapeutic drink – a reputation which continued well into the following centuries. In Trieste, however, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, in order to enhance the prominence of ribolla, a distinct sparkling wine and important product for the area, it was decided that the latter was instead the natural descendant of the famous sparkling wine from antiquity, and the local production of prosecco was abandoned.
From the Karst Plateau to the gates of Treviso
Prosecco production, on the other hand, increased and slowly expanded in a more natural manner across the Venetian hills just outside Treviso, most notably since the end of the 19th century. The area traverses the hills surrounding the towns of Conegliano, Asolo and Valdobbiadene, which were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019. The combination of the area’s climate, the characteristics of the terrain and the favourable exposure of the slopes has endowed this area with conditions that are particularly suitable for viticulture, especially that of the Glera grape from which Prosecco is made. Historically, the climate was so pleasant that the Venetian nobles loved to spend the summer in these places to escape the annoying heat and mugginess of the lagoon.
Discover the exhilarating landscape that is home to prosecco: picturesque hilltop villages surrounded by undulating swathes of breath-taking vineyard
The viticultural vocation of the Province of Treviso is also celebrated for being home to one of the oldest wine routes in Italy. Once known as the “White Wine Road”, now redesigned and baptized “The Prosecco Route of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene“, the route offers medieval villages, panoramas and countless other pleasant surprises which captivate all those who visit the area. So, what can a visitor expect to see? Well, there is the beautiful town of Treviso, Urbs Picta, a delightful city once covered with frescoes, as well as numerous other historical town centres rich in monuments as well as traces of their Roman and medieval pasts, ancient parish churches and sumptuous aristocratic residences from the era of the Serenissima Republic, but above all there is the wonder that is the Prosecco Hills, thriving vineyards where highly emotional taste sensations are born.
