Cartizze

Cartizze is a single hillside of about 107 hectares above Valdobbiadene, shared between more than a hundred owners, and the most expensive vineyard land in Italy. It is the Prosecco appellation's one universally acknowledged grand cru, and the steepness that makes it good is visible from the road below.

This hill is the sharpest illustration of the appellation's dilemma: land valuable enough that every square metre is under pressure to be planted, worked by hand at a cost that only the price of the wine sustains.

Buying a Cartizze or a named Rive at the cellar door is a direct contribution to the terraces staying maintained. Buying flat-land Prosecco elsewhere is not the same product and does not support this landscape.

Stay out of the rows. The terraces erode quickly underfoot, the drops between levels are higher than they look, and this is someone's working ground.

There is no gate and no ticket -- Cartizze is farmland crossed by public roads and marked footpaths. What you visit is the landscape and the cellars on it.

A car or a bike is necessary; the climb from the town is short but steep. Cellar visits should be booked, since most are small family operations. Do not drive into the vineyard tracks -- they are private, single-width and used by tractors.