Valdobbiadene Culture

Rive is the local idea worth understanding. The word means a steep hillside, and a label reading "Rive di Santo Stefano" or "Rive di Guia" means the grapes came from that one slope, harvested by hand, in a single vintage. Forty-three are recognised. It is a system built to argue that this sparkling wine has terroir, and tasting two rive against each other makes the case better than any explanation.

Cartizze sits above that as its own tiny sub-zone, shared among a large number of very small owners -- some holding a fraction of a hectare inherited through generations. It is drier or softer depending on the producer, and expensive by the standards of the region.

The Osteria senza Oste -- the innkeeper-less inn -- is a small stone house among the vines above Santo Stefano, left open with wine, cheese and salami inside and an honesty box. It has become well known, but it began as, and largely remains, a local arrangement.

Food is simple hill cooking: spiedo, soppressa, hard cheeses, and chestnuts from the woods above Combai in autumn.