Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superior is obtained from a number of local grape varieties.
The most important of these is the rustic and vigorous Glera, which has hazel-coloured shoots and fairly large, elongated, loosely-packed bunches (with a “wing”) and handsome golden yellow berries that stand out against the bright green of the leaves. The first written documentation of its presence in the area dates back to 1772, in the 8th volume of the “Giornale d’Italia”, in which the scholar Francesco Maria Malvolti speaks about the quality of the local viticulture.
Glera gives the wine of Valdobbiadene its basic structure, but small proportions of Verdiso, Perera and Bianchetta, local varieties that are considered as minor but which are very useful for giving the wine a satisfying, harmonious structure, may also be used, as well as Pinot and Chardonnay.
Verdiso has been cultivated in the zone since the 18th century, and it was already fairly widely grown in the 19th. It is used to increase the wine’s acidity and zestiness. Perera, which was also widespread at the beginning of the last century, is used to heighten the wine’s perfumes and aromas.

 Its name derives from the shape of the berries or - as some maintain - from its distinctive taste, which recalls that of pears. Lastly, Bianchetta, documented as early as the 16th century, serves to make the wine more mellow in cold years because it is an early ripener. For this reason it is often to be found, along with Verdiso, in the areas that are highest and most difficult to cultivate.

The wine of Valdobbiadene is produced with a minimum of 85% of grapes of the Glera variety and a maximum of 15% of the other cultivars mentioned.

A fundamental role was played in the shaping of local vine-growing methods by the founding of Italy’s first-ever Oenological School in Conegliano, which is still very much operative today. The producers of Conegliano Valdobbiadene thus began to draw out all the potential quality of the varieties used in the production of their wine, planting their steep hillsides with vineyards which they then tended by hand. They also fine-tuned their vinification methods in order to enhance the aromatic qualities, the elegance, the freshness and the liveliness that are their wine’s distinctive features.