Appellation · Italy
Prosecco DOC
A very large appellation across nine provinces of north-east Italy — and the reason a grape had to be renamed so that a place could be protected.
Light-bodied sparkling white with green apple, pear and white flowers, a soft frothy mousse and low alcohol. Off-dry more often than not. Drink young and cold.
About Prosecco DOC
Prosecco is made by the tank method — a second fermentation in a pressurised tank rather than in the bottle — which preserves the fresh, floral, primary fruit character of the Glera grape rather than developing the bready autolytic notes of Champagne.
Until 2009 Prosecco was the name of the grape variety. That meant anyone anywhere could plant it and call the wine Prosecco, because varietal names cannot be protected. The Italian authorities therefore renamed the grape Glera and defined Prosecco as a place — extending the DOC across nine provinces, including one containing a village called Prosecco near Trieste, which supplied the geographical basis.
It was a legally ingenious manoeuvre and a commercially transformative one. It is also why "is Prosecco a grape?" has a genuinely complicated answer: it was until 2009, and is not now.
The DOC is the volume tier. Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG, in the steep hills to the north, is the quality tier and a different wine.
Prosecco is usually Brut or Extra Dry. Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut, which is one of the more counterintuitive facts on a wine label.
What the name means
- Legal name
- Prosecco DOC
- Type
- Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC)
- Set by
- Consorzio di Tutela della DOC Prosecco, under MASAF
- Recognised
- 2009
- Regulates
- Origin, plus grape varieties, maximum yields, minimum ageing.
The delimited area, permitted varieties and their proportions, maximum yields, minimum alcohol and — for riserva and similar terms — minimum ageing.
A minimum of 85% Glera. Created in 2009 by extending the name across nine provinces of Veneto and Friuli, while the grape formerly called Prosecco was simultaneously renamed Glera.
Grapes
Wines from here
sparkling
Prosecco
Tank-method sparkling wine from Glera: floral, pear-scented and fresh, with none of Champagne’s bready character — by design.
sparkling
Tank-method sparkling
Sparkling wine with its second fermentation in a pressurised tank — fresher, fruitier and less bready than the traditional method.
Rules worth knowing
Confirmed in the EU register
Prosecco is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), file number PDO-IT-A0516, protected at EU level since 2009.
Article 107 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013
Specification published: Official Journal C, C/2025/6773, 23.12.2025 · Official Journal
Only the rules that change what to expect in the glass or on the label. WineHQ does not reproduce production specifications, and each entry carries the date it was last checked because appellation rules change.
Label terminology
The variety formerly called Prosecco was officially renamed Glera in 2009, at the same time as Prosecco was redefined as a protected geographical designation covering nine provinces. A varietal name cannot be protected under EU law; a place name can.
Why it matters. It is the whole answer to "is Prosecco a grape, a place or a style?". It was a grape name until 2009 and is a place name now, and the change was made specifically so the name could be defended.
MASAF · Consistently reported, not read at the regulator · checked 2026-08-16 · in force since 2009
Compared with
- Prosecco vs Cava: the two appellations — Two inexpensive sparkling wines that are made in completely different ways.
What to eat, and how to serve it
Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.
Where to go next
Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.
- Conegliano Valdobbiadene — The steep hillside heart of Prosecco production, with DOCG status and a UNESCO-listed landscape.
- Soave — Garganega grown on volcanic and limestone hills east of Verona — a wine badly damaged by its own success and now largely recovered.
Sources
Sources consulted
- Italian DOP and IGP wine register — Ministero dell’agricoltura, della sovranità alimentare e delle foreste (MASAF)
- Consorzio di Tutela della Denominazione di Origine Controllata Prosecco — Consorzio Prosecco DOC