The DOCG zone of Prosecco Superiore is on a hilly strip of land beside the Piave river between the small towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, equidistant between the Dolomites and the Adriatic. Valdobbiadene is the heart of production with a concentration of hill slopes up to 500 metres, including the top prosecco, Cartizze, which was traditionally sweet but is now primarily dry.
Primo Franco, whose family started a prosecco house in 1919, took over his family business in 1982 and has become a trailblazer of the cream of traditional Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, but made with up-to-date technology.
These are traditional proseccos with 27 to 30g/l residual sugar, but because they are based on top quality base wine from great terroir they are capable of lasting up to 30 years as a vertical tasting in October 2014 of all the wines Primo has made since 1983 showed. They use no sulfites now, nor do they rack the wine after fermentation preferring to leave the wine on its lees, which act as an anti-oxidant and add texture and complexity.