Varaschin

Varaschin

Four generations of a Valdobbiadene family, and the keys to the old cellar where the town's wine brotherhood keeps its memory.

In San Pietro di Barbozza, a hamlet on the hills above Valdobbiadene, there is an underground vault dug in 1931. It is the Cella Vinaria, the seat of the Confraternita di Valdobbiadene, a brotherhood of local wine people founded in 1946, and it holds bottles of Valdobbiadene going back about a century. The family that runs it today is the Varaschins. A town that keeps its old bottles in an archive takes its wine seriously.

The business dates itself to 1930, when Matteo Varaschin and his wife, Emma Brunoro, started it. Their winery is on Strada Chiesa in Valdobbiadene, and the tasting room is at Casa Brunoro, by the Cella. Emma's surname, you will notice, keeps turning up.

At a glance

The story

After Matteo and Emma came their sons, Luigi, an oenologist, and Renzo. In the third generation came Orfeo, and today Andrea and Raffaella run the company, with Manuel, of the fourth generation, welcoming visitors at Casa Brunoro. Plenty of Valdobbiadene families go back four generations; fewer also keep the town's shared cellar.

The range covers most of the denomination's vocabulary, so here is a short glossary. DOCG is the top tier: Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore, from the hills. DOC is the much larger zone on the plain; Varaschin's Quinta Nota is a Prosecco DOC Treviso. Rive means a single steep hillside named on the label with its vintage, and Varaschin's Rive is San Pietro di Barbozza, the hamlet around the Cella. Cartizze is Prosecco's most celebrated hill, just over 100 hectares above Valdobbiadene. And col fondo is the old way: the wine ferments again in the bottle and keeps its yeast, so it pours cloudy.

Then there is the sweetness ladder, which runs the wrong way. Brut is dry. Extra Dry is sweeter than Brut. Dry is sweeter still. The Varaschins make all three, plus a drier Extra Brut, and publish no sugar figures, so the label word is your guide.

Varaschin also travels. Wine Paris reports that it won "Best Prosecco in the World" at the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships 2024. That comes from a promotional listing, and we have not checked it against the official results.

What to drink

Strada Chiesa, Valdobbiadene DOCG Extra Dry. The flagship, which shares its name with the winery's street. Extra Dry, so softer and rounder than a Brut. €14 in the winery shop (roughly $16), or €41 for a magnum (roughly $47).

Matteo, Superiore di Cartizze Brut. The founder's name on the most famous hill, made in the drier Brut style. Falstaff gave it 92 points and noted "elderflower and Williams pear". About €55 for a magnum in the winery shop (roughly $63). There is also a Primo Passo Cartizze in the sweeter Dry style; we found no price.

Mildosé, Valdobbiadene DOCG Millesimato Dry. A vintage-dated wine in the Dry style, the sweetest of the three label words. €16 in the winery shop (roughly $18).

1930, Valdobbiadene DOCG Brut, and Reluí Extra Brut. The 1930 Brut, which carries the founding year, is €11.50 at the Italian shop Gocce di Sicilia (roughly $13). Reluí, drier again, is about €11 there (roughly $13).

Quinta Nota, Prosecco DOC Treviso. Brut and Extra Dry. The producer calls it immediate and versatile, which we read as the bottle for a Tuesday. We found no price. For the curious, there is also a Brunoro Rive di San Pietro di Barbozza Millesimato, in Brut and Extra Dry, and an Orfeo 1969 Millesimato Brut.

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

Varaschin is a good choice if you want one producer that walks you through the whole Valdobbiadene map, from DOC Treviso to Rive to Cartizze to col fondo. If you want a single family's sharper take on one hill, look at Zucchetto, whose Cartizze is almost bone dry. If you like the cloudy, bottle-fermented style, Gregoletto is the reference point.

Where to buy

• At the winery: the online shop lists most of the range in euros.
• UK: Master of Malt lists the Valdobbiadene Extra Dry. A UK retailer has listed the 1930 Brut at £18.60, sold out when checked, and Vinissimus, which ships to the UK, has shown Strada Chiesa at about £23.
• US: we found no importer or retailer. If you know one, tell us.

Visiting

The tasting room at Casa Brunoro opens Monday to Friday, 11:00 to 14:00 and 15:00 to 19:00, and at weekends from 10:30 to 20:00. There are three tastings, priced per person and booked online. Acino is three wines and the Cella Vinaria, an hour or more, for €22 (roughly $25). Esperienza is four wines with a board of meats and cheeses, two hours or more, for €37 (roughly $42). Premium is a vineyard and cellar visit with samples drawn from the tank and five wines, three hours or more, for €90 (roughly $103).

Quick answers

What is the Cella Vinaria? A 1931 underground cellar in San Pietro di Barbozza, the seat of the Confraternita di Valdobbiadene since that brotherhood was founded in 1946. Varaschin runs it and includes it in its tastings.

When was Varaschin founded? The family dates the business to 1930, when Matteo Varaschin and Emma Brunoro started it.

Can you visit Varaschin? Yes. There are three tastings, from €22 to €90 per person, booked online.

Sources

• varaschin.com: home, family history, wines, experiences; shop
• prosecco.it: Varaschin
• Falstaff: Cantine Varaschin
• Gocce di Sicilia: 1930 Brut
• Vinissimus, Master of Malt

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.