The cultivation of vines in the countryside around Conselve began with the start of land reclamation and improvements by Benedictine monks in the eleventh century. It is said that it was this period that saw the introduction here of the famous Raboso del Piave vines, from which one makes Friularo D.O.C.G.
Friularo wine fully made a name for itself in the fifteenth century, during the period of Venetian rule, when the decline in Venice’s maritime power within the Mediterranean meant that there was a drastic drop in the importation of Greek wines, thus creating a market for the products of regional vineyards. Friularo also had another advantage that played in its favour: its high level of acidity. This would earn the wine the nickname vin da viajo [travel wine], because it kept better during the long journeys required to transport it to the major centres of trade.
With the end of the Venetian Republic and the suppression of numerous religious houses during the period of Napoleonic rule, viticulture went into decline. However, it started to flourish again towards the end of the nineteenth century, with the spread of a number of vines from north of the Alps – Merlot, Cabernet and Chardonnay. All of these are still cultivated today and are the boast of the local Cantina Sociale wine-makers and the other private vineyards in Conselve.
