Vicenza DOC

A provincial denomination covering the hills and plain around Vicenza, overlapping the Colli Berici to the south and the Gambellara zone to the east. It is a broad, working appellation, and unusually candid in its own registered file about what it actually grows.

The Terroir The file separates the zone into two. In the hill sector the soils are volcanic in origin, and the file credits them directly with the particular sensations of freshness and sapidity in the wines — the same basalt that runs east through Gambellara and Soave. The plain is sedimentary rock of alluvial origin, rich in clay, and gives the reds their structure. Across both, a ventilated climate and pronounced day-night swings guarantee healthy fruit and full ripening.

Grape Varieties The file states plainly that the varieties grown here are above all the international ones, acclimatised to the zone’s conditions, giving wines with marked sugar, alcohol and fixed acidity that carry and preserve their aromatics. It singles out Riesling and Pinot Grigio as producing unmistakable mineral notes over a pronounced but pleasant acidity. Alongside them Chardonnay, Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, with Garganega and Tai Rosso among the natives.

The Critical Take Vicenza DOC is the least distinctive of the province’s three overlapping denominations, and the reason is structural rather than qualitative: a grower with fruit from a good Berici or Gambellara site will use those names, and Vicenza catches what is left. That said, the volcanic hill sector genuinely does something to Riesling and Pinot Grigio — two varieties usually made anonymously in the Veneto — and the file’s claim about minerality is not marketing. Buy it as a well-made everyday wine from a good address and it delivers; do not expect the appellation itself to guarantee anything.

Three Denominations, One Province Vicenza is unusual in carrying three overlapping appellations on largely the same ground. Colli Berici covers the limestone and basalt hills to the south, Gambellara the volcanic pocket to the east, and Vicenza DOC the province entire — including both of the others. A grower may therefore choose between names for the same fruit, and almost always chooses the narrower one. Understanding that hierarchy explains what does and does not end up under this label.

At the Table Vicentino cooking, which is bean- and poultry-heavy: bacalà alla vicentina, roast guinea fowl, risi e bisi, sopressa and Asiago. The whites at 10–12°C, the reds at 16–17°C. None of it is built for a cellar.

Benchmark Producers Dal Maso, Cavazza, Villa Angarano, Masari.