The grapes of the Glera vine variety are the main component of Prosecco wine. The first document attesting the existence of Glera in the Veneto area dates back to 1754, when Aureliano Acanti spoke about its presence on the Berici hills. 1772 saw Francesco Maria Malvolti glorify the features of this grape, which was produced in a local area, in a note of the Agriculture Academy of Conegliano.

One year later, Cosimo Villifranchi held that the name Prosecco derived from the name of a municipality in the Trieste area where the vine variety was grown, and declared that Prosecco was in fact Pùcinum, a wine that was produced in that area even at the time of the Roman colonisation. Pliny the elder spoke greatly about the medicinal virtues of this wine in his “Naturalis Historia”.

The modern history of Prosecco in the Treviso area officially started in 1868, when Antonio Carpenè and abbot Felice Benedetti created the Società Enologica Trevigiana association (which became Carpenè Malvolti soon after). The main aim of the association was perfecting the production and selection of vineyards, considering Prosecco as the “fine” wine requiring the most attention. The work of count Marco Giulio Balbi Valier proved paramount in this case, as he isolated a better, more loosely packed type of Prosecco with both small and large grapes and a richer aroma, which is still known as Prosecco Balbi. 1876 saw the foundation in Conegliano of the first Italian Enological School, which was complemented in 1923 by the Regia Stazione Sperimentale per la Viticoltura e l’Enologia centre.