Why it matters
The producer
Le Manzane sits in San Pietro di Feletto, a commune tucked into the steep hillside arc between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene in northeastern Italy. The estate farms more than 70 hectares of Glera-dominant vineyard inside the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, the appellation that occupies this corridor of Veneto hills, and produces approximately one million bottles a year distributed to over 30 countries. Those numbers belong to a serious mid-to-large sparkling house. The family running it is three generations deep and still manages every stage of production in house.
Osvaldo Balbinot started the business in 1958 with his wife Elsa. His son Ernesto joined within a few years, and the estate expanded from a local operation into a full export business. Today Ernesto and his wife Silvana work alongside their children Marco and Anna. The family has not sold, not fragmented, and not handed production to a cooperative. At one million bottles, that is an unusual combination.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG covers a band of morainic and clay hills in the Treviso province of Veneto, running roughly 15 kilometres between its two named towns. San Pietro di Feletto, where Le Manzane is based, sits in the eastern part of this corridor, closer to Conegliano. The terrain here is steep enough that mechanised farming is difficult on the most exposed slopes, and the vineyard parcels are broken by woodland, hedgerow, and dramatic changes in aspect. In 2019 the area received UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, recognising the working landscape itself as a cultural artifact.
The appellation divides into two tiers. Prosecco DOC covers a wider zone across several provinces. Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG is the more specific tier, drawing only from this defined hillside corridor and requiring higher minimum standards. Le Manzane holds vineyards under both appellations, with the DOCG hills providing the estate's primary focus.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Le Manzane farms more than 70 hectares across the San Pietro di Feletto hillside and surrounding DOCG parcels. The steep gradient on many parcels requires hand work and limits what mechanisation can achieve, keeping vine density and canopy management labour-intensive. Glera is the dominant variety, grown for the Prosecco Superiore DOCG sparkling range. Bianchetta, the recovered native white, is farmed in separate parcels selected for the 2026 still wine project.
The Bianchetta vines are bottled in lighter recycled-glass containers, a packaging choice that reduces the per-bottle carbon footprint across the estate's full annual output. The Merlot Fuscato, the estate's still red, is fermented at controlled temperatures and aged in oak, producing a round, deeply coloured red that reads differently from the sparkling range and draws on a different part of the estate's farming capability.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range divides into two clear halves. The sparkling wines, made from Glera under the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG and the broader Prosecco DOC, form the core of production. These include Brut and Extra Dry expressions. Prosecco Superiore DOCG Brut is dry relative to the Extra Dry style, with the lower dosage bringing Glera's apple and white pear character forward against a clean, slightly saline finish. Extra Dry carries a touch more residual sweetness, softening the acidity and making the wine more immediately approachable. Both are light in body, low in alcohol relative to still wines, and built for early drinking.
The Merlot Fuscato moves in a different direction entirely. The nose gives deep garnet fruit: black cherry, morello cherry, and a cocoa and spice undercurrent. In the mouth the tannins are round rather than gripping, the body is full, and the finish carries the dark fruit forward with warmth. It drinks approachably young.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG Brut. It is the wine the estate was built on and the one that shows what the San Pietro di Feletto hillside produces when Glera is farmed carefully and kept light. The apple and pear aromatics are clean and uncluttered. The mousse is fine. The acidity is present but not sharp, and the finish closes dry with a hint of salinity that comes from the soil and the altitude. There is no oak, no residual sweetness, and no weight. It is Prosecco as the appellation intended: a light sparkling wine made from a single native grape grown on steep hillside parcels in a specific DOCG corridor.