Glera
Under a new name
Do you think you recognise these grapes? You probably do, albeit under a different name. Previously it was called Prosecco, and had been since the 18th century. It gladly shared this description with the sparkling and pearl wine produced from it, until its producers laid claim to the name exclusively for their products. They did this so winemakers outside the Prosecco area in Veneto could not produce sparkling wines with the name Prosecco. Before, they could do it quite easily, just by using the right grape and writing the name on the label. Therefore, the Prosecco grape variety has been called Glera since 2010. This is an old synonym for Friuli. One thing has not changed: the Glera grape remains the top dog in the Prosecco area. It provides subtly flowery, lemony white wines which improve further with interaction with carbon-dioxide.