Asolo Prosecco / Colli Asolani-Prosecco DOCG

The “other” Prosecco DOCG — smaller, less famous, and arguably more distinctive than its dominant neighbor. Located in the hills around the ancient walled town of Asolo (Treviso province), south of the Piave river and west of the main Conegliano-Valdobbiadene zone. Asolo has been a cultural landmark since the Renaissance; its wines have only recently begun receiving equivalent attention.

The Terroir The Asolo hills are geologically distinct from Conegliano-Valdobbiadene: primarily clay and limestone rather than the steep Tertiary moraines of the north, with a slightly warmer and more sheltered microclimate. The result is Glera that ripens a touch more fully, producing wines with a rounder, creamier texture and a less floral, more mineral-driven profile.

The Wines Glera-based sparkling wines in Spumante and Frizzante styles. Asolo has historically been associated with the driest end of the Prosecco spectrum — it was the first Prosecco DOCG to permit the Extra Brut designation, reflecting a local tradition of bone-dry sparkling wine at a time when the rest of Prosecco was firmly Extra Dry or Brut.

Asolo vs. Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Conegliano-Valdobbiadene tends toward higher acidity, more pronounced florality, and lighter body. Asolo is slightly fuller, creamier, and more mineral — a different expression of the same grape and method.

The Critical Take Chronically underexplored. Bele Casel’s Extra Brut in particular is a benchmark for the dry Prosecco style — proof that the category can be serious.

The Town of a Hundred Horizons Asolo has had an outsized cultural life for a place of this size. Caterina Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus, was given the town in 1489 as consolation for the kingdom Venice had taken from her, and held a small Renaissance court there; Pietro Bembo set his dialogues Gli Asolani at it, and from her habit of strolling and talking the Italian language acquired the verb asolare. Robert Browning named his last book Asolando after the place, and Eleonora Duse is buried in the cemetery above the town.

Why It Tastes Different The geological distinction from Conegliano is real. These hills are calcareous clay of marine origin rather than the steep conglomerate and moraine of the northern zone, they sit lower and more sheltered, and Glera ripens a little further here. The wine has less floral lift and more texture, which is exactly why the local tradition ran dry when the rest of the category was sweet.

Prosecco Stopped Being a Grape Worth knowing when reading any Prosecco label: until 2009 the grape itself was called Prosecco. The name was then reserved as a geographical indication and the variety renamed Glera, specifically so that nobody outside the zone could plant it and use the word. It is one of the most effective pieces of defensive wine legislation ever passed in Italy.

At the Table Aperitivo, plainly, but the Extra Brut is a real food wine: baccalà, fried fish, asparagus from Bassano, and prosciutto di Montagnana. Serve at 6–8°C.

Benchmark Producers Bele Casel, Loredan Gasparini, Conte Collalto.