Veneto

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Venice’s region is Italy’s leader in the production and commerce of classified wine. A major share of the DOC (which represents about 225 million bottles a year) consists of the Verona trio of Soave, Bardolino and Valpolicella. But since DOC represents less than a fifth of the region’s total, the Veneto also figures as a major producer and exporter of unclassified table wines, often of moderate price.  There are three general areas of premium production: the western province of Verona in the hills between Lake Garda and the town of Soave; the central hills in the provinces of Vicenza, Padova and Treviso; the eastern plains of the Piave and Tagliamento river basins along the Adriatic coast northeast of Venice.  Verona’s classic wines are bona fide natives. Soave, from Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave, is usually dry and still, though spumante and sweet Recioto versions are also prescribed. Third after Chianti and Asti Spumante in volume among classified wines (with some 50 million litres a year), Soave has long been Italy’s most popular DOC wine abroad.  Valpolicella, made from a blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, is very high in volume among DOCs with about 35 million litres. Valpolicella is noted as a full and fruity red to drink relatively young, though grapes from its vineyards in the hills north of Verona can also be partly dried and made into the richly dry Amarone della Valpolicella or the opulently sweet Recioto della