Base Wine & Blend

Harvest for Glera usually begins in September, when the grapes are ripe but still fresh. On the plains of Pordenone and Udine, the vine rows are wide and flat, making large-scale harvesting easy to organize. Depending on the producer, picking is done by machine or by hand. On the steep edges of the Karst, only hand-picking remains possible.

After that, speed matters, since the juice must not oxidize. The grapes are pressed gently, with some producers working under protective gas to preserve the bright fruit aromas. The must ferments cool in stainless steel tanks and is then racked off clear. This produces a calm, dry base wine with no sparkle.

This wine then waits. Many wineries store it cool and only prepare the second fermentation once an order comes in. This keeps the wine fresh and lets the producer adjust quantities and styles according to demand. This is a major difference from houses that prepare their bottles years in advance.

Here, “assemblage” mainly means blending batches. Wine from different vineyard plots and harvest days is mixed so the style tastes consistent year after year. Reserve wine from earlier vintages is uncommon for this style. Anyone wanting a vintage on the label must commit: the term Millesimato requires at least 85 percent Glera from that exact year.

Blanc de Blancs or Blanc de Noirs rarely appears on these bottles. Glera is a white variety, and almost every bottle is made from white grapes anyway. So the blend isn't named after grape color, but after origin and vintage.