Villa del Re, Cantina di Ponte Piave, Treviso, Veneto, Italy

CANTINA DI PONTE PIAVE: FOUR COOPERATIVE WINE CELLARS

Founded in 1948, Cantina di Ponte Piave is one of the most important cooperatives in northeastern Italy. The Cantina has 20,000 affiliated producers. The collective vineyard holdings cover 2,400 hectares of vineyards, located north of the city of Veneto, around the hills of Treviso . The company has four wineries, located in: Cantina di Villorba (Treviso), the Cantina Basso Piave in Eraclea (Veneto), the Cantina di Caposile (Veneto), and the original location in Ponte di Piave (Treviso), where all the wines are bottled. Each location has a tasting room and a wine shop.

TREVISO, SUCCESSFUL IN VENETO

The Veneto wine region is located in the northeast of Italy, between Lake Garda and Venice. The Veneto wine region is very old; grapes for wine were already grown here in Roman times. The old wine region, also very popular as a holiday destination, is known for its famous wine production . Unfortunately, this also led to overproduction and the associated loss of quality at some point. Fortunately, the situation has been completely reversed. Valpolicella has been incredibly successful with its Ripasso and Amarone. Soave has experienced unique quality growth and has recovered as a shareholder supplier for white wines in the region. The greatest current success of Veneto are the wines from the area around Treviso: the Prosecco . Still, frizzante or spumante, the popularity of Prosecco is so great that Prosecco now seems to have become a collective term for sparkling wines in general. The Veneto wine region has approximately 74,000 hectares of vineyards. With its production of millions of hectoliters of wine, Veneto is one of the largest producers in Italy.

FRIZZANTE VS. SPUMANTE

Prosecco is the name of both an Italian sparkling wine and the white grape variety from which this wine is made. You often see two variants; the frizzante and the spumante. Spumante is a sparkling wine, which is made according to the Metodo Classico , in which the wine undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle. Spumante is derived from the word spumantizzare , which means 'to sparkle'. Most proseccos are of the Spumante variant. The frizzante prosecco has a somewhat lower carbon dioxide pressure; this type of prosecco is also called Vino Frizzante or Vino gentile . The frizzantes owe their popularity mainly to the rich export possibilities, also because they can be imported at a lower excise duty. In terms of closure, there is also a difference in the wines, which has to do with the carbon dioxide pressure . Frizzantes are often closed with a screw cap, or with a sturdy cork with the well-known string, the ' Spago' closed. For Spumantes this is not enough, this way of sealing will not hold the higher carbon dioxide pressure. Spumantes are therefore often sealed with a crown cap . Sometimes you also see frizzantes that are sealed with crown caps, but the other way around, spumantes with screw cap, you almost never see.

KING'S FRIZZANTE

Cantina di Ponte Piave produces a very pleasant Frizzante which, unlike a spumante, has an accessible, soft mousse (bubble). The prosecco is mildly dry and is a friendly wine as an aperitif, but can also be served with lightly grilled fish dishes and/or desserts. Villa del Re refers to the name of the wine estate where the wine is bottled and translates as ' The King's house' .

OUR WINE FROM VILLA DEL RE