12. Aprile 2026
The Soil of the Prosecco Hills
The Soil of the Prosecco Hills — Why the Land Makes the Difference
When you taste a glass of Prosecco Superiore DOCG, you are not just tasting a wine. You are tasting the land itself — centuries of geology, erosion and natural history compressed into every bubble.
A Landscape Shaped by Time The hills of Conegliano Valdobbiadene were formed millions of years ago by the movement of the Alps and the retreat of ancient seas. The result is an extraordinarily complex mosaic of soils, each contributing something unique to the character of the wine.
The Main Soil Types The Prosecco Hills are composed of several distinct soil types:
- Morainic soils — left behind by ancient glaciers, these soils are rich in minerals and give the wine its characteristic freshness and mineral notes
- Sandy and silty soils — light and well-draining, these soils produce wines with delicate floral aromas and great elegance
- Clay soils — heavier and richer, these soils give body and structure to the wine
- Limestone and rocky soils — found on the steepest slopes, these soils stress the vines in the best possible way, concentrating flavours and producing wines of great complexity
This incredible variety of soils within such a small area is one of the reasons why Prosecco Superiore DOCG is so unique — and why no two vineyards taste exactly the same.
The Power of Terroir — One Hill, Four Wines To truly understand the power of terroir, consider this: a single hill in Valdobbiadene can produce four completely different wines from the same producer. Same grapes, same hands, same sky — yet each wine tells a different story of the land beneath the vines. This is the magic of the Prosecco Hills — a complexity that surprises even the most experienced wine lovers.
The Ciglioni Inerbiti — A Landscape Unlike Any Other One of the most distinctive features of the Prosecco Hills is the ciglioni inerbiti — the natural grassy banks between the vine rows that hold the soil without stone walls. Unlike the stone terraces found in other famous wine regions, these soft green slopes are unique to this landscape.
Working these steep hillsides is an act of extraordinary dedication. Tractors cannot reach many of these vineyards — everything must be done by hand, by farmers who have inherited this knowledge from generations before them. This is why Prosecco Superiore DOCG is considered some of the finest and most precious in the world.
Why UNESCO? In 2019, the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Hills were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site — one of only a handful of wine landscapes in the world to receive this recognition.
UNESCO recognised not just the beauty of the landscape, but the extraordinary relationship between people and land that has shaped these hills for centuries. The ciglioni inerbiti, the small family farms, the traditional knowledge passed from generation to generation — all of this was deemed worthy of protection for all of humanity.
Tasting the Terroir The best way to truly understand the soil of the Prosecco Hills is to visit them in person. Standing among the vines, looking out over the green hillsides of the Giovani Dolomiti — the Young Dolomites, as these hills are lovingly called by the people who live here — you begin to understand why this land produces something truly special.
Come and taste the difference that the land makes. 🍾