C 87/54
7.
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
9.3.2023
Main wine grapes variety(ies) Glera B. - Serprino
8.
Description of the link(s)
8.1.
‘Asolo Prosecco / Asolo’ – wine, sparkling wine, quality sparkling wine, quality aromatic sparkling wine and semi-sparkling wine categories Details of geographical area Natural factors relevant to the link The Asolo Prosecco / Asolo’ PDO production area is located in the Veneto region, in the Montello and Colli di Asolo hills in the province of Treviso.
These two hill ranges, at altitudes of 100-450 metres above sea level, form a harmonious landscape with gentle slopes and curves.
In the Montello hills in particular, karst features originating from the pedogenetic layer are frequent, as evidenced by more than 2 000 sinkholes of varying sizes forming a perfect underground drainage system.
The hills are made up of large formations of hard aggregate, consisting of cemented rock and covered in marly-clayey or marly-sandy soil that is well-suited to tillage and prone to loosening when exposed to the elements.
Its characteristic red colouring is evidence of its ancient origin.
The soils are decarbonated and acidic, of medium depth, with good capacity for water storage and considerable mineral content.
As they have not undergone any major disturbances, their original characteristics have been preserved, with their stratigraphy and texture remaining intact.
There is a high degree of microbiological activity in the organic substance, which ensures the ready availability of nutrients.
The wine-growing area enjoys specific climate conditions characterised by mild springs, summers that are not too hot and mild autumns, thanks to the slopes under vines being south-facing and the arrangement of the hills forming right angles against the cold north-easterly winds.
The average temperature in summer is 22,6 oC and the highest temperatures are reached in July.
Autumns are warm and dry, with breezes and strong variations between day and night temperatures.
It rains mainly from April to September, and the rainfall is fairly evenly distributed.
The loose texture of the soil means that rainwater is rapidly absorbed into the subsoil and the sloped land allows excess water to be easily drained off.
Historical and human factors relevant to the link Vineyards were planted and developed on the Colli di Asolo and Montello hillsides first by Benedictine monks and later by the Venetian Republic.
The monks settled in the area around the year 1000 A.D., in particular at the monastery of Santa Bona in Vidor and the Montello charterhouse in Nervesa.
Their work had a profound impact on the area’s farming and wine-growing history and helped shape a culture centred on vine cultivation and wine that is still very much alive today.
In the second half of the 14th century, when the area passed into Venetian hands, the Colli di Asolo and Montello hills were rapidly identified as an important wine-growing area.
In the 15th century its wines were already being exported.
In the 16th century, when the flourishing Venetian noble classes built villas, ‘barchesse’ (open barns) and hunting houses with their respective vineyards, the aristocratic pursuits of seeking out the beauty and goodness handed down through wine-growing and wine-making traditions took hold in the area.
The hills were praised by the most highly-regarded personalities and their wines sought after.
In Venice, where they were compared with wines shipped in from Greece, they were taxed one third higher as they were considered better than those from other areas.
The morphological characteristics of the soils have been preserved, and the use of the land today is as described by travellers of the past, with vineyards alternating with other crops as was typical of family farms in the old days.
8.2.
‘Asolo Prosecco / Asolo’ – sparkling wine, quality sparkling wine, quality aromatic sparkling wine and semi-sparkling wine categories Causal link between quality, the characteristics of the product and the geographical environment, with the natural and human factors.
Sparkling and semi-sparkling ‘Asolo Prosecco’ PDO wines have a straw yellow colour of varying intensity, with long-lasting foam in the sparkling wine and a clear formation of small bubbles in the semi-sparkling wine.