The wines of Asolo and Montello span three key denominations (two DOCGs and one DOC) and have lengthy been on Italian wine specialists’ radar. With solely small volumes produced every classic, they have been well-kept secrets and techniques – however now not. The expansion of the denominations over the past decade has preserved Montello’s pioneering custom of manufacturing Bordeaux-style crimson blends, whereas Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG has emerged to say a star place within the huge constellation of Italy’s world-famous glowing wine.
Three components mix to offer Asolo Prosecco DOCG the id that units it aside from the broader world of Prosecco. The primary is its particular sense of place: this small winery space is famend for high-quality wine manufacturing. The second, after all, is the distinctive character of the wines themselves. The final is much less tangible, however no much less essential: the wine’s connections with Asolo’s wealthy cultural heritage.
Asolo is nicknamed ‘the city of 100 horizons’.
A valuable terroir
The Asolo Prosecco DOCG space lies west of the river Piave, which separates it from the hills of Valdobbiadene-Conegliano. The two,270ha below vine within the Asolo Prosecco DOCG span round 35km east to west and embrace two geologically distinct rising environments. To the east, the hump- backed hill of Montello rises from the plain to supply mild, south-facing slopes for viticulture. To the west, a protracted line of hills with quite a few peaks, steep slopes and deep valleys type the Colli Asolani, which give their identify to the wine.
This can be a land of low-intensity viticulture and nice biodiversity: vines account for less than 7% of the 43,000ha that falls below the PDOs of the Asolo Montello Consorzio. The remaining is occupied by pure woodland and combined agriculture. The realm has a temperate, sub-alpine local weather: Monte Grappa acts as a barrier, defending the realm from chilly northerly winds. Mixed with the hotter air that blows in from the south throughout the Veneto plain, this supplies ultimate circumstances not just for vines but additionally for olives.
Vineyards account for less than 7% of the manufacturing space.
Unmistakable character
The construction and depth of Asolo Prosecco DOCG wines fits the purity of expression of drier types. Asolo was the primary Prosecco denomination to supply the ultra-dry Additional Brut model; excellent with meals, this has grow to be one in every of Asolo Prosecco DOCG’s signature expressions.
The calcareous marl of the Colli Asolani is assumed to offer the wines their distinctive saline, mineral high quality and highlights the signature aromas of spring blossom, apple, pear and citrus zest. Wines from the crimson ferrous soils of Montello, in contrast, typically have a firmer, extra vertical, mineral character.
Though the present focus in Montello is on Prosecco types, it additionally has a protracted historical past of crimson wine manufacturing. Immediately, the Montello DOCG provides elegant, ageworthy Bordeaux blends, whereas the Montello Asolo DOC produces each crimson and white nonetheless wines from worldwide and native grapes, together with the intriguing, lately rediscovered native selection Recantina.
Asolo is listed as one of the lovely cities in Italy (I Borghi più belli d’Italia).
Poets, writers and winemakers
Asolo’s winding, cobbled streets and its panoramic views of the countryside led the poet Carducci to name it ‘the city of 100 horizons’. The hilltop city’s dreamy serenity has enchanted writers and artists for hundreds of years. The English poet Robert Browning composed a few of his most essential works in Asolo; the pioneering explorer Freya Stark made her dwelling right here, as did the famed turn-of-the-century actress Eleonora Duse. Wandering across the streets on a sunny spring afternoon, it’s simple to grasp what attracted them to this inspiring place.
The expansion of Asolo Prosecco DOCG manufacturing – from barely three million bottles in 2014 to 32.4 million in 2024 – is among the nice success tales of Italian wine of current years, and makes it the fourth-largest producer of glowing wines within the nation.
This success is constructed on the stable foundations of the Asolo Montello producers’ consortium, which, between growers, bottlers and small- and medium- scale impartial estates, counts 475 members. Celebrating its fortieth anniversary this 12 months, the consortium appears to be like forward to a rosy future for its denominations – because it continues to unfold the phrase about these elegant, characterful wines, and the magnificent panorama that produces them.
Uncover extra concerning the Consorzio Vini Asolo Montello
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