White grape

Glera

Synonyms — Prosecco, Serprina

Parentage — Ancient variety of the Trieste–Veneto arc

  • green apple
  • pear
  • white flowers
  • citrus
  • white peach
Budbreak
Early
Maturity
Third epoch; late September
Leaf
Medium, pentagonal, three to five lobes; light green
Bunch
Large, long, pyramidal, winged, loose
Berry
Medium, spherical, yellow-green turning golden on the sun side; thin skin

For most of its history the grape was simply called Prosecco, after a village near Trieste at the eastern end of its arc; it is an old variety of the hills of the Veneto and Friuli. In 2009 grape and place were divorced by decree: the variety was renamed Glera so that "Prosecco" could become protected geography — a denomination rather than a plant.

Green apple, pear and white flowers, modest alcohol, gentle acidity — a profile made for the tank method Federico Martinotti devised in the 1890s, which keeps the fruit forward and the price kind. The steep Conegliano–Valdobbiadene hills entered UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2019, while the wine itself, in the meantime, conquered the planet.

In the blend

Share of this grape in a typical blend of each wine

92%

Where it grows

Share of the region's vineyard planted with this grape

Through time

Indicative presence index, 0–100Origins & Antiquity — 5The Monastic Middle Ages — 10Exploration & the Fortified Age — 15Classifications & the Golden Age — 20Phylloxera & the World Crises — 20The Modern & New World Era — 75Antiquity5500150017001875195075