Just the other night, at Col Fòndo 2/3, we discussed the future of this wine.

While it is difficult to foretell what the world of Prosecco will be ten years hence, today I decided to try looking a little farther than my own nose and figure which way to go in the future.

Here are two simple data:

• 2 DOCGs in the historical hills areas (Asolo and Conegliano-Valdobbiadene)

• 9 provinces with the potential to produce Prosecco (Belluno, Gorizia, Padova, Pordenone, Treviso, Trieste, Udine, Venezia and Vicenza)

Corn, wheat, soy and hay are practically worth nothing; year after year, inexorably, farmers are losing money. Today the only profitable crop around is Prosecco.  People without any foresight are now planting acre upon acre with vines, convinced of having made the best investment of a lifetime.  Nine provinces is a lot of acreage: surely this will bring about an unfavorable offer/demand ratio and the consequent drop in price, which I optimistically predict will be at about € .40 per kilo.

To make our product stand above the crowd and to create a brand that, rather than being just a Prosecco, reflects a terroir, we must believe staunchly in DOCG and work together to keep it alive and making it known to a world that, today, still thinks of Prosecco as “just another bubbly”!

For the next  few years it will be difficult: the price for DOCG  (€ 1.50 per liter) is practically the same as that of DOC (€ 1.30), while the production per acre is significantly lower.

It is painful, however, to see that many DOCG producers prefer to downgrade their wines rather than be subjected to strict controls and proper output per acre.

I hope to be wrong, but I fear that, if we follow this path, Prosecco’s life will be short. Very short indeed.

Long live Col Fòndo.

Luca

Just the other night, at Col Fòndo 2/3, we discussed the future of this wine.

While it is difficult to foretell what the world of Prosecco will be ten years hence, today I decided to try looking a little farther than my own nose and figure which way to go in the future.

Here are two simple data:

2 DOCGs in the historical hills areas (Asolo and Conegliano-Valdobbiadene)

9 provinces with the potential to produce Prosecco (Belluno, Gorizia, Padova, Pordenone, Treviso, Trieste, Udine, Venezia and Vicenza)

Corn, wheat, soy and hay are practically worth nothing; year after year, inexorably, farmers are losing money. Today the only profitable crop around is Prosecco. People without any foresight are now planting acre upon acre with vines, convinced of having made the best investment of a lifetime. Nine provinces is a lot of acreage: surely this will bring about an unfavorable offer/demand ratio and the consequent drop in price, which I optimistically predict will be at about € .40 per kilo.

To make our product stand above the crowd and to create a brand that, rather than being just a Prosecco, reflects a terroir, we must believe staunchly in DOCG and work together to keep it alive and making it known to a world that, today, still thinks of Prosecco as “just another bubbly”!

For the next few years it will be difficult: the price for DOCG (€ 1.50 per liter) is practically the same as that of DOC (€ 1.30), while the production per acre is significantly lower.

It is painful, however, to see that many DOCG producers prefer to downgrade their wines rather than be subjected to strict controls and proper output per acre.

I hope to be wrong, but I fear that, if we follow this path, Prosecco’s life will be short. Very short indeed.

Long live Col Fòndo.

Luca