Lifestyle
In the very eastern part of Venice, near Treviso, is the area of Lison-Pramaggiore. With flat, alluvial lands, two of native varietals are Lison and Refosco dal penduncolo rosso.
Lison is a new wine made from the ancient varietal Tocai Italico (also known as Tocai Friulano). In 2007, the European community agreed that the name Tocai belonged to the Hungarians. Therefore, the Italians renamed the wine Lison. Made with 100% French Sauvignonasse (an ancient grape), Lison (formerly Tocai) is a straw yellow wine that is delicate and acidic with a finish of bitter almonds.
Piave D.O.C. is located between the provinces of Treviso and Veneto and is 30 kilometers wide and 40 kilometers long. Seventy years ago, the region consisted of 80% red wine production. However today, red wine is makes up only 3% of overall production. It is an area mostly known for Prosecco, with the finest selections emerging from an area between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. The Prosecco Superiore Conegliano Valdobbiadene became a D.O.C.G. in 2009.
Padua is the oldest wine producing region in the Veneto dating back to the Romans. The primary varietals from this area are Friularo (known as Raboso in other areas) from the Bagnoli D.O.C., Fior d'Arancia D.O.C.G. (made from Moscato Giallo) from Colli Euganei and Raboso from Corti Benedettine del Padovano D.O.C.
Located in the Northeast of Italy is the Veneto Region, famous for the canals of Venice, the architecture of Palladio and the home of Romeo and Juliet. Comprised of seven provinces, five of them produce wine: Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Treviso and Venice. The Veneto Region is also responsible for producing 20% of all Italian D.O.C. wines. In fact, there are a total of 25 D.O.C. wines and 11 D.O.C.G. wines from within the Veneto region.
At the border of Verona and Vicenza is Gambellara D.O.C. which is also made with the Garganega grape. In addition to the dry white wine Gambellara, Garganega is also used in the sweet wine production of Gambellara Vin Santo D.O.C.G. and Recioto di Gambellara D.O.C.G. Monti Lessini D.O.C. comes from the hills of Vicenza and is made with the highly acidic Durella grape to make a crisp sparkling wine.
At the foot of the mountains is the area of Breganze, famous for the Vesapiolo grape which is used to make Breganze Vespaiolo, Breganze Vespaiolo Spumante and Breganze Torcololato, a passito wine. In the south of Vicenza is the Colli Berici D.O.C. which comes from the Berici Hills. The most typical varietal is Tocai Rosso (now called Tai Rosso) which is the same clone as Grenache and has characteristics of strawberry, cherry, raspberry and spice.
The province of Verona is where some of the more recognized wines come from, including Soave, Valpolicella and Amarone.
The Soave area is the largest in Europe, with 6,500 hectares planted. Made with at least 65% Garganega and up to 30% Trebbiano di Soave, Soave is a fragrant, fresh, medium bodied wine.
Valpolicella is the name of the area made up of three valleys crossed by the Negrar, Marano and Fumane rivers. Valpolicella is made with the varietals Rondinella, Molinara, and Covina and produce a fruity and acidic medium-body red wine.