The Nino Franco winery, founded in 1919 in Valdobbiadene, is the world icon of the production of Prosecco Superiore DOCG, the first to make it a product of excellence by creating wines from single vineyards and introducing it to the best restaurants in the world.
Nino Franco has marked the forefront of the history of Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, from the production of the first Prosecco with a vintage on the label in 1983, to the producer’s signature on the label. The winery exports a wine with a distinctive character to the world, shaped by the love for a unique territory.
His epic story began in 1919 when Antonio Franco founded the “Cantine Franco Antonio, Producer and wine merchant”, continuing with his son Giovanni, known as Nino. The real revolution came in the early 1980s with Primo Franco, his grandson, who began to travel to make Prosecco known throughout the world and, inspired by the many cultures he came into contact with, to innovate the market alongside his wife Annalisa and today together with their daughter Silvia.
Nino Franco wines are a cultural movement, in our winery we do not held tours, but encounters.
Primo Franco is, in fact, one of the first to produce single-vintage Prosecco and dedicates himself to the care of small plots, certifying them SQNPI (National Quality System of Integrated Production), from which he obtains exclusive wines, pure expression of the territory: Vigneto della Riva di San Floriano, Nodi and Grave di Stecca, individual vineyards intimately linked to the territory of the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene denomination, an area historically most suited to Prosecco.
Right near the center of Valdobbiadene, there is the Nino Franco winery, renovated by Tobia Scarpa at the end of the 1980s using simple materials such as galvanized iron, white stone, staves from old barrels, and later completed by Paolo Bornello who maintained its original character.
The heart of the company’s hospitality is the tasting room, which is accessed by passing through a scenic warehouse where the bottles are placed in steel containers, as if to compose an enormous artistic installation. The room, very original, is characterized by elegant chromatic nuances ranging from aubergine, to bottle green to brass brown.
On the wall, an autographed photo of Ferdinando Scianna donated to Primo Franco well symbolizes the family’s passion for the arts that finds its emblematic apex in the acquisition in 2004 of the nearby Villa Barberina, today a magnificent luxury relais, where the flagship of the production is born: the single vineyard Grave di Stecca.
Faithful to Nino Franco’s company vision, each visit, by reservation, is conducted by Primo himself, his daughter Silvia, or one of their closest collaborators. This is to offer each guest the pleasure of tasting not only their wines but also the soul of their work, being introduced to the history of a unique territory, the Prosecco Hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, which in 2019 were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
A winery that is an absolute must-visit if you want to grasp the highest and noblest essence of this amazing land.
The Secret
Nino Franco is the only winery of Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG that, upon request, can organize vertical tastings of its own Prosecco, and of other wines produced in the past, going back even 40/50 years.
Useful Info
Cantina Nino Franco
Via G. Garibaldi 147
31049 Valdobbiadene, Treviso
Tel. +39 0423 972051
Villa Barberina
Via Roma 2
31049 Valdobbiadene, Treviso
Tel. +39 0423 972479
Visits with tasting by reservation from Mon to Fri, 9 – 12, 14 – 16 from 22 euro per person
Villa Barberina is closed seasonally from November to March
Rooms from 200 euro with breakfast included
