Michael Goldstein Oct 24, 2026

DOC, DOCG, Asolo, Cartizze: the Prosecco map explained

From the plains to Cartizze: the Prosecco zones, their legal yields, why the hill wines cost more, and a table of every zone and what it means.

Prosecco runs from flat vineyards near the Adriatic up to a single famous slope above Valdobbiadene. Each step up the hill means fewer grapes per acre and, usually, a higher price. Here is the map, with the numbers that explain it.

Stand in a wine aisle and you can buy Prosecco for the price of a sandwich or for the price of a nice dinner. Same grape, same country, often the same tank method. The difference is mostly geography. A Prosecco label is really an address, and once you know the neighborhoods, the price tags stop looking random.

There are three denominations, with two special addresses inside the smallest of them. We will go from the bottom of the map to the top.

The plains: Prosecco DOC

The Prosecco DOC is huge. It covers nine provinces across two regions: Treviso, Venice, Vicenza, Padua and Belluno in the Veneto, and Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia and Trieste in Friuli Venezia Giulia. At the end of 2023 it had more than 28,100 hectares of vines, according to consortium figures reported by the Treviso Chamber of Commerce, and in 2025 it filled 667 million bottles. Much of that land is flat, which makes farming easier and cheaper.

The rules allow up to 18 tonnes of grapes per hectare. That is the highest yield of any Prosecco zone, and more grapes per vine generally means lighter, simpler wine. That is not a criticism. A bright, easy DOC Brut is exactly what you want for a spritz or a Tuesday.

Inside the DOC there are two narrower labels. Prosecco DOC Treviso must be grown, made and bottled entirely in the province of Treviso, which includes the foothills below the DOCG zones. Prosecco DOC Trieste must be grown in the province of Trieste, home of the village that gave Prosecco its name. Both are still DOC, with the same rules on yield.

The first hills: Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCG

West of the river Piave, the hills around the old walled town of Asolo and the long, wooded ridge of the Montello form the smaller of the two DOCGs. It was promoted in 2009 as "Colli Asolani Prosecco or Asolo Prosecco", and today the rules call it simply Asolo Prosecco. Its disciplinare lists three whole municipalities (Castelcucco, Cornuda and Monfumo) and parts of sixteen more; the Treviso Chamber of Commerce counts 18 in all. Vineyard in the zone grew from little more than 827 hectares in 2011 to over 2,700, of which about 2,200 are Asolo Prosecco, and production grew from 5 million bottles in 2015 to 27.5 million in 2023.

The maximum yield is 13.5 tonnes per hectare, a quarter less than the DOC. Asolo was also the first Prosecco denomination to allow Extra Brut, and its sparkling wines can be sold from Extra Brut to Demi-Sec. Americans may be drinking more of it than they realize: 60% is exported, and more than two thirds of the exports go to the US.

The classic hills: Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG

East of the Piave, a band of steep, east-west ridges runs between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. This is the historic heart of Prosecco, a DOC since 1969 and a DOCG since 2009, and since July 2019 a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its hand-built hillside vineyards. The zone covers the hillsides of 15 municipalities, with 8,653 hectares in 2023, and it sold more than 92 million bottles that year.

Yield is capped at 13.5 tonnes per hectare. The sparkling wine and its sweetening must be made within the province of Treviso, and it carries the word Superiore. The EU file for the denomination describes the hills as very steep and shaped by hand over centuries, and that labor shows up in the cost of every bottle. The families who work these hills are the subject of our producer directory.

Rive: single villages

Inside Conegliano Valdobbiadene, a wine can name its village. Rive di plus a place means the grapes came from one of 43 named municipalities or hamlets, listed in the regulations, such as Rive di Guia, Rive di Colbertaldo or Rive di Farra di Soligo. The rules cut the yield to 13 tonnes per hectare, require hand-picking and put the vintage on the label. In 2023 only 370 hectares were registered as Rive. Bellussi's Rive di Guia wines are a good example of the type.

The top of the map: Cartizze

Above Valdobbiadene, in the hamlets of San Pietro di Barbozza and Santo Stefano (the Consorzio also names Saccol), is the slope called Cartizze. The Consorzio gives it as 107 hectares; 2023 consortium figures say 106. It has had its own rules since 1969. The yield is the lowest in Prosecco at 12 tonnes per hectare, the finished wine needs at least 11.5% total alcohol, against 11% for other Superiore sparkling wine, and the wine must be made inside the municipality of Valdobbiadene. The label reads Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze. Cartizze is not a separate DOCG. It is a sub-zone of Conegliano Valdobbiadene.

Most Cartizze is bottled as Dry, which on a Prosecco label means sweet, 17 to 32 grams of sugar per litre. If that is a surprise, read Brut, Extra Dry, Dry: why "dry" means sweet.

The zones at a glance

ZoneWhereMax yieldAreaLabel clue
Prosecco DOC9 provinces, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia18 t/haover 28,100 ha (2023)Prosecco DOC
Prosecco DOC Treviso / TriesteOne province, grown to bottled18 t/hapart of the DOCProsecco DOC Treviso
Asolo Prosecco Superiore DOCGHills of Asolo and the Montello, Treviso13.5 t/haabout 2,200 haAsolo Prosecco Superiore
Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCGHillsides of 15 towns, Treviso13.5 t/ha8,653 ha in all (2023), Rive and Cartizze includedConegliano Valdobbiadene, or either town alone
Rive43 named villages and hamlets in Conegliano Valdobbiadene13 t/ha, hand-picked370 ha (2023)Rive di [place], plus vintage
Superiore di CartizzeOne slope in Valdobbiadene12 t/ha106 to 107 haValdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze

Yields from the production rules. Areas from the Treviso Chamber of Commerce 2023 summary of consortium data, and the Consorzio for Cartizze.

Why the prices differ

Three things push the price up as you climb: fewer grapes, more labor, and scarcer land. The yield cap is the first. A hectare of DOC may give 18 tonnes, a hectare of Cartizze 12. You can see the result in what wineries pay for grapes. On the Treviso commodity exchange list of 23 August 2022, Glera for Prosecco DOC was quoted at €1.30 to €1.40 a kilo, Asolo at €1.38 to €1.48, Conegliano Valdobbiadene at €1.80 to €1.90, and Rive at €1.85 to €1.95. Cartizze was not quoted at all. The exchange says its figures are indicative only. The Drinks Business reported in 2016 that Cartizze grapes were selling for about €4.50 a kilo, against about €2.50 elsewhere in the DOCG, and Ruggeri's Paolo Bisol put a hectare of Cartizze at about €1.8 million, a theoretical figure because the land almost never comes up for sale. The headline called the prices "crazy." Those numbers are ten years old, and we found nothing newer.

Then there is the hill itself. Steep slopes mean more work by hand, and Rive must be picked by hand by law.

On the shelf, the ladder looks roughly like this, using prices from our sister site's producer pages: a DOC Treviso from San Martino at about €8 at the winery (roughly $9); an Asolo Brut Millesimato from Bogana at about €12.50 (roughly $14); a Valdobbiadene Brut from Gregoletto at about €17 (roughly $19); and a Cartizze from Bisol at about €30 in Italy (roughly $34), listed by Millesima in the US at $57.99. Euro prices convert at about $1.14; American shelf prices run higher once shipping, the 15% tariff on EU wine, and importer and distributor margins are added. For US stores, see where to buy Prosecco in the US.

Is the climb worth it? We think the step from DOC to a good DOCG Brut is the best value in sparkling wine. Whether Cartizze is worth double again depends on whether you like your Prosecco soft and generous, because that is how most of it is made. If you want to see the hills for yourself, the prosecco.com FAQ on getting to the Prosecco region is a one-minute read. Start with what is Prosecco? if you are new, and use how to read a Prosecco label at the store.

Quick answers

Is Cartizze a DOCG? It is a sub-zone of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, not a DOCG of its own. Its label reads Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze.

What is the difference between Asolo and Conegliano Valdobbiadene? Both are hill DOCGs in Treviso province with the same 13.5 t/ha yield. Asolo lies west of the Piave, around Asolo and the Montello. Conegliano Valdobbiadene lies east of it, is larger, and has the Rive and Cartizze.

Why is Cartizze so expensive? It is about 107 hectares with the lowest yield in Prosecco, 12 t/ha. Its land was reported at about €1.8 million a hectare in 2016.

Is Prosecco DOC Treviso a DOCG? No. It is a Prosecco DOC grown, made and bottled entirely in Treviso province.

How many Rive are there? 43 named municipalities and hamlets in Conegliano Valdobbiadene.

Sources

Last checked: October 2026

The Prosecco Desk: the Proseccotists behind Bella Principessa Prosecco. We love this region and write about it plainly. No producer pays to be mentioned.

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