Glera (grape)

Glera
Grape (Vitis)
Prosecco sparkling wine made from Glera
Color of berry skin	Blanc
Species	Vitis vinifera
Also called	Prosecco and Other synonyms
Origin	Italy
Notable regions	Veneto
Notable wines	Prosecco

Glera is a white variety of grape of Slovenian origin, which was brought to village Prosecco (Slovene, Prosek) from Slovenian Kras. Glera was, until 2009, mostly referred to as Prosecco (Slovene, Prosekar).

Glera is a rather neutral grape variety which is mainly cultivated for use in sparkling Italian wine styles, frizzante or spumante, from the various Prosecco DOCG and DOC areas, although still wines also exist. It is grown mainly in the Veneto region of Italy, traditionally in an area near Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, in the hills north of Treviso.

Glera is believed to be an old variety, and its former name Prosecco was derived from the village Prosecco near Trieste, where the grape may have originated. It has been proposed that it was cultivated already in Roman times, possibly as the vinum pucinum praised by Pliny the Elder, although that is not known with any certainty. It ranks about thirtieth in importance among the country's some 2,000 grape varieties.

Prosecco was traditionally used as the name for both the grape variety and the sparkling wine produced primarily from it. Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, Prosecco di Conegliano and Prosecco di Valdobbiadene all had DOC status, and there was also an IGT zone surrounding it. When the higher DOCG status was sought for Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadine, it became a complication that the grape (which had become cultivated over a larger area) and the protected designation of origin had the same name. To resolve the issue, the old synonym Glera was officially adopted for the variety at the same time as the DOCG was approved in 2009. The change was also made to reduce the possibility of sparkling wines of other origin being labelled as 'Prosecco' by using the grape variety's name.