Andreola

While the Rive wines from Andreola each bring a single vineyard to the glass, the Dirupo tells a different story: that of the entire denominazione. For this brut, Stefano Pola draws on the privilege of a vineyard network that extends across all 15 municipalities of the Valdobbiadene DOCG – from gentle slopes at 200 metres to extreme steep slopes at 500 metres, on limestone marls, sandstones, conglomerates and deep clay soils. No other wine of the house represents the territory so completely. The choice of grape varieties emphasises this approach: 90% Glera, supplemented by Bianchetta and Perera – two indigenous varieties of the hills, which have long since disappeared from standard Prosecco, but here they quietly contribute to the aromatic depth.

Some wines are documents. The "26° Primo" is both – wine and document at the same time. The name commemorates the 26th year that Azienda Agricola Andreola was founded: 2009, when Nazzareno Pola handed over the winery to his son Stefano and the denomination simultaneously made the leap to DOCG. A wine as a baton – between generations, between an ancient winemaking tradition and its modern aspirations. The grapes come from the oldest core estate of the winery: around four hectares of steep slopes in Col San Martino, the place in the southernmost part of the chain of hills between Vidor and Vittorio Veneto, where Andreola has been rooted since its foundation. The vineyards lie at an altitude of 300 to 500 metres – partly on calcareous conglomerate soils, partly on calcareous marl, interspersed with centuries-old Glera vines and small proportions of indigenous varieties such as Bianchetta, Perera and Verdiso. The slopes are so steep that all the work has to be done by hand. Viticoltura eroica – heroic winemaking – is not a marketing term here, but a daily reality.

Soligo and Col San Martino share the same geological origin – the same system of steep ridges between Vidor and Vittorio Veneto, the same limestone conglomerate rocks, the same heroic steepness of 300 to 500 metres. And yet the Más de Fer is a different wine. The difference lies in the soil. The plots on Col de Fer and San Gallo – around five hectares on a single contiguous slope, exposed to the south-east – grow exclusively on pure limestone conglomerate, without the marl inclusions that give Col San Martino its aromatic intensity. The thinnest soils, roots directly in the rock, constant light stress – but the result is not less, but different: fine elegance instead of power, verticality instead of breadth, a purity of expression that Andreola deliberately responds to with the extra dry dosage. The 14 g/l residual sugar is not a concession to the mass taste – they are the exact balance that this finesse needs.

San Pietro di Barbozza is not an unknown name in the Denominazione. Anyone who knows the hills knows that Cartizze is also located here. This legendary 107-hectare slope, the grand cru of the entire Valdobbiadene, borders directly on the municipality of San Pietro di Barbozza – the same steep limestone cliffs, the same heroic slope, the same "Biancone", the fine-grained limestone that has been erupting from the mountain for thousands of years and charges the soils of this zone with sharp minerality. Andreola only began cultivating this parcel for the 2024 harvest – just two hectares, exposed from east to west, with slopes of up to 80%. The soils become thinner with increasing altitude until the roots reach directly into the Biancone. No buffer, no reservoir – only rock and freshness.

Refrontolo lies on the eastern edge of the denominazione – quieter, warmer, a half tone lower than the steep slopes of the core zone. The Col del Forno vineyard is a natural amphitheatre of around four hectares at 250 metres, nestled between forests and terraced slopes. Andreola acquired the plot in 2016 – and the wine was one of the most convincing of the entire Rive line right from the start. What distinguishes Refrontolo from Col San Martino is not quality, but character. The clayey, marly soils with karst formations dating back to before the last ice age reliably retain moisture – providing a stable water supply for the vines even in dry years. Temperatures are slightly higher than in the west of the denomination and ripening begins earlier. The result is not intense floral wines, but Glera with ripe fruit: hawthorn, wisteria, apple, peach and yellow citrus fruits – a warmer, more complex spectrum of flavours.

Rive di Rolle lies in the shelter of the Trevigian Prealps – warmer than the more open sites of the Denominazione, with higher average annual temperatures and deep, fine-grained clay-marl soils that retain moisture and ensure a consistent water balance for the vines even in dry years. The result is a Glera that matures differently than elsewhere: more opulent, more fruit-driven, with an aromatic spectrum that goes far beyond the floral notes of the limestone vineyards. The Vigna Ochera is the most perfect representative of this terroir logic in the Andreola portfolio.

In 2017, Stefano Pola was proposed to plant a vineyard in the heart of the beautiful area of the Belluno Dolomites, more precisely about 9 hectares in the Valbelluna area on a well-exposed high plateau at about 650 metres above sea level. The soil here is medium-heavy with calcareous deposits typical of mountain regions. Some layers contain solidified sands that form sandstone, and in other areas marls, i.e. old clays, are exposed. The soil structure is very stony, which provides good drainage and aeration conditions. The high lime content gives the wines a distinct olfactory finesse.

In 2017, Stefano Pola was proposed to plant a vineyard in the heart of the beautiful area of the Belluno Dolomites, more precisely about 9 hectares in the Valbelluna area on a well-exposed high plateau at about 650 metres above sea level. The soil here is medium-heavy with calcareous deposits typical of mountain regions. Some layers contain solidified sands that form sandstone, and in other areas marls, i.e. old clays, are exposed. The soil structure is very stony, which provides good drainage and aeration conditions. The high lime content gives the wines a distinct olfactory finesse.

107 hectares. That is all. In the entire Denominazione Valdobbiadene, which extends over 15 municipalities and thousands of hectares of steep slopes, there is exactly one hill, which has been demarcated with its own regulations since 1969 – a golden pentagon, as the locals call it, whose plots measure barely two tenths of a hectare on average. Cartizze is the grand cru of the Veneto. Andreola sources his grapes from the "Cartizze Alto" sub-area – the limestone-rich ridge of the hill, where marl and sandstone alternate, the soils are shallow and rich in minerals and the perfect southern exposure balances out the "Alta Collina" climate. The temperatures remain mild and stable – cooler than at the bottom of the valley, warmer than the exposed steep slopes around it. It is precisely this balance that produces a Glera of particular ripeness and aromatic completeness. The grapes come from long-standing contract suppliers who have been supplying Andreola for generations – because Cartizze is not a vineyard that you buy. You cultivate a fraction of it, if you are lucky.

The Andreola family winery in Col San Martino was founded in 1984 by Nazzareno Pola in the heart of the Valdobbiadene wine-growing region. In his honour, a wonderful Prosecco Superiore is produced here every year in small batches, which once again received the highest award in the Gambero Rosso for the 2024 vintage. For Stefano Pola, the Etichetta del Fondatore represents the highest expression of finesse and olfactory elegance that the Glera grape can give in the core zone of Prosecco Superiore – combined with the verticality and juiciness that the soils give it, without ever losing its lightness and drinkability.

Our team drinks this after work, our very special insider recommendation for purists: finely balanced and very elegant Prosecco Millesimato Spumante Superiore with a shiny golden colour and green reflections. Floral bouquet, fine perlage and elegant flavours of pear and white fruit, which lend the aristocratic, dry structure a great deal of elegance and length. This is not an everyday occurrence, even in the noble DOCG Conegliano Valdobbiadene! SUPERIORE.DE

The Andreola family winery in Col San Martino was founded in 1984 by Nazzareno Pola in the heart of the Valdobbiadene wine-growing region. In his honour, a wonderful Prosecco Superiore is produced here every year in small batches, which once again received the highest award in the Gambero Rosso for the 2024 vintage. For Stefano Pola, the Etichetta del Fondatore represents the highest expression of finesse and olfactory elegance that the Glera grape can give in the core zone of Prosecco Superiore – combined with the verticality and juiciness that the soils give it, without ever losing its lightness and drinkability.