Prosecco goes up like the sun and comes down like the rain — the bubbles rise cheerfully in the glass, the mood rises cheerfully in the drinker, but what goes up must come down. A gentle warning about excess wrapped in celebration of the wine.
Prosecco di Valdobbiadene e Conegliano — the wine produced in the steep, terraced vineyards of the Treviso hills that were awarded DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) status in 2009 and UNESCO World Heritage landscape status in 2019 — is the defining wine of Venetian sociability. Unlike the powerful, dark Amarone of Valpolicella, Prosecco is light, effervescent, and specifically designed for the aperitivo hour: the daily late-afternoon pause that is one of the defining rituals of Venetian and northeastern Italian life. The traditional spritz — Prosecco with Aperol or Campari and a splash of soda — was invented in the Veneto when Austrian soldiers stationed there during the Hapsburg period added sparkling water to local wine, and it remains the region's most characteristic drink. The proverb's solar image captures Prosecco's essential quality: it lifts the mood as reliably as the sun lifts the day, but it does not sustain indefinitely. The 'rain' coming down is both the physical return to sobriety and the metaphorical lesson that all elevated states are temporary — and that the wise Venetian drinks Prosecco for the pleasure of the moment, not in search of permanent elevation.
Prosecco di Valdobbiadene e Conegliano was awarded DOCG status in 2009 and the production landscape was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019; the spritz aperitivo tradition originated with Austrian soldiers stationed in Veneto during the early nineteenth-century Hapsburg occupation.
A barman in Treviso explaining why he limits customers to three glasses of Prosecco at aperitivo
Tre spritz e basta. El Prosecco el va su come el sole — ma el torna zo come la piova. Lo sapete anche voi.
Three spritzes and that's enough. Prosecco goes up like the sun — but comes down like the rain. You know it yourselves.
Friends at an aperitivo in a Conegliano bar at the end of a long week
Cin cin! — Sì, ma piano. El Prosecco el va su come el sole e el torna zo come la piova — dobbiamo guidare.
Cheers! — Yes, but steady. Prosecco goes up like the sun and comes down like the rain — we have to drive.
A Valdobbiadene winemaker pouring Prosecco for visitors at his estate
Guardate le bollicine — vanno su come il sole. El Prosecco el va su come el sole e el torna zo come la piova — è per questo che lo beviamo di giorno.
Look at the bubbles — they go up like the sun. Prosecco goes up like the sun and comes down like the rain — that is why we drink it during the day.
A person the morning after a wedding with too much Prosecco
Stanotte stavo benissimo. Stamattina... El Prosecco el va su come el sole e el torna zo come la piova.
Last night I felt wonderful. This morning... Prosecco goes up like the sun and comes down like the rain.