Val d'Oca

Val d'Oca

In 1952, 129 growers in Valdobbiadene decided they were stronger together. About 600 of them now share the name on the bottle.

Valdobbiadene is a town of growers, and plenty of them have never bottled a wine under their own name. In 1952, 129 of them did something different: they founded a cooperative, the Cantina Produttori di Valdobbiadene, to make and sell the wine themselves. Today it has about 600 members. Val d'Oca is the name they put on the label.

We like a co-op. In a region where famous names can make it easy to forget who did the work, a cooperative is the growers' own answer. Every bottle of Val d'Oca is, in a small way, hundreds of families' vineyards poured into one glass. The brand itself dates from around 1990, and a separate sales company followed in 2007. Stefano Gava is general manager.

At a glance

The story

Val d'Oca has one of the best ways into Valdobbiadene's geography, because it bottles three Rive side by side. A Rive is a wine from a single named hillside, made from hand-picked grapes and labelled with its vintage. Val d'Oca's are Rive di Colbertaldo (Extra Dry), Rive di San Pietro di Barbozza (Brut) and Rive di Santo Stefano (Extra Brut). Three villages, three sweetness levels, one co-op. It is a tasting flight disguised as a product range.

Above them sits Cartizze, the most celebrated hill in the denomination, which Val d'Oca makes both Dry and Extra Brut. The producer calls its Cartizze its most precious wine. There is also Uvaggio Storico Dry, a cuvée the co-op describes as a historic blend.

The cooperative has a design streak too. In 1997 it became the first to put Prosecco in a satin-black bottle, which won a packaging award at Vinitaly, Italy's big wine fair. A black bottle for a wine famous for being light and bright is a very confident joke, and it worked. The co-op is also the exclusive Italian distributor of Champagne Encry, so its people spend time on both sides of the sparkling wine argument.

What to drink

Millesimato Extra Dry (DOCG). The classic style. Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut, which confuses everyone exactly once. Falstaff gave the 2023 and the 2022 92 points each. €11.90 for the 2025 at the Italian retailer Callmewine (roughly $14).

Millesimato Brut (DOCG). Drier. Falstaff gave the 2022 92 points. €12.00 at Callmewine (roughly $14).

Millesimato Extra Brut (DOCG). Very dry, about 3 g/l of sugar according to Callmewine. €12.50 (roughly $14).

Rive di San Pietro di Barbozza Brut (DOCG). The producer calls it fresh and fragrant. Our pick for a first Rive: dry, from one named hill, and €14.10 at Callmewine (roughly $16).

Rive di Colbertaldo Extra Dry (DOCG). From steep slopes, and balanced, in the producer's words. Callmewine gives 12 to 17 g/l of sugar. €14.00 (roughly $16).

Rive di Santo Stefano Extra Brut (DOCG). The driest of the three Rive. Gambero Rosso gave it two of its three glasses, according to Callmewine.

We have not confirmed a current Cartizze price or a US shelf price.

Prices: euro prices are what the winery or an Italian retailer charges, with a rough dollar figure at about $1.14 to the euro (October 2026). In the US, expect more on the shelf once shipping, the 15% tariff on EU wine, importer and distributor margins and taxes are added.

Where it fits

Val d'Oca is the growers' answer to the big Valdobbiadene houses. Against Valdo, a family company buying from about 70 growers, Val d'Oca is owned by roughly 600 of them. If you want to learn the Rive system without spending much, buy the three Rive and taste them in a row. You will learn more about Valdobbiadene from those bottles than from any map.

Where to buy

• US: imported by Prestige Wine Imports of New York.
• Europe: Callmewine lists most of the range.
• UK: we found no importer. Amathus Drinks lists the Millesimato in magnum at £46.00.

Visiting

The Val d'Oca Wine Center is open Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 18:30, and on Sundays. There are three tours. Tour 1 is €15 for 30 minutes and three glasses. Tour 2 is €22 for 90 minutes and four vintage wines. Tour 3 is €28 for 90 minutes and pours the three Rive plus the Cartizze, which is the one we would book. Tours 2 and 3 can be booked online; otherwise call +39 0423 982070 or email winecenter@valdoca.com.

Quick answers

Is Val d'Oca a family winery? No. It is the brand of Cantina Produttori di Valdobbiadene, a cooperative founded in 1952 by 129 growers, with about 600 members today.

What are Val d'Oca's Rive wines? Rive di Colbertaldo (Extra Dry), Rive di San Pietro di Barbozza (Brut) and Rive di Santo Stefano (Extra Brut), each from a single named hillside.

Who imports Val d'Oca to the US? Prestige Wine Imports, based in New York.

Sources

• valdoca.com: Prosecco, Val d'Oca, Le Rive, Wine Center
• prosecco.it: Val d'Oca
• ICE, Italian Trade Agency: Val d'Oca
• Forbes Italia, 29 September 2022
• Quotidiano: the Rive, Champagne Encry
• Falstaff: Millesimato Extra Dry 2023
• Market Watch: Prestige Wine Imports
• Callmewine: Val d'Oca

Last checked: October 2026

The Prosecco Desk: the Proseccotists behind Bella Principessa Prosecco. We love this region and write about the families who make it. Producers do not pay to be listed.