Prosecco Hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene

Between the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, at the foot of the Venetian Prealps north of Treviso, the land rises into a strange, rhythmic relief: long, steep, narrow ridges running side by side like the backs of animals, separated by small tight valleys. Geographers call them hogback hills, and on their flanks generations of growers have planted vines wherever the slope allows. The result is one of the most intricate wine landscapes in Europe — a patchwork in which vineyards, strips of woodland, hedgerows and small hamlets alternate across almost every hillside, and where the view changes with each bend of the road.

What gives these hills their particular look are the ciglioni: narrow terraces held not by stone walls but by grassy banks of earth that follow the contours of the slope and stabilise the soil. Used here since the seventeenth century, they produce a chequerboard effect, with rows of vines running both along and down the gradient. Around 1880 local farmers added their own system of training vines, the bellussera, with tall rows spreading their branches high above the ground — another distinctive pattern in the fields. Because the slopes are so steep, most of the work in the vineyards is still done by hand.

The grape is Glera, the variety behind Prosecco, but the landscape is not a monoculture. Patches of forest on the steepest ground and on the ridge tops, sharecroppers' farmhouses, churches and villages perched on the crests or tucked into the valleys keep the scene varied. In 2019 the hills were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a living, still-evolving cultural landscape shaped by the meeting of people and terrain over centuries; the protected core covers more than 20,000 hectares.

The most rewarding way to see them is slowly, by car, bicycle or on foot, along the minor roads that climb from ridge to ridge between the two towns that give the area its name. Spring green, the autumn colours after harvest and the light of late afternoon raking across the terraces show the pattern at its clearest.

Getting there

The hills lie in the province of Treviso, Veneto. The nearest larger town is Vittorio Veneto, about 6.5 km away; Conegliano and Valdobbiadene mark its eastern and western ends. The nearest airport is Treviso Airport (TSF), about 34 km away. The landscape is best explored by car or bicycle along the local roads between the villages.