The Piave ( la, Plavis, German: ''Ploden'') is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It begins in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

and flows southeast for into the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

near the city of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

. One of its tributaries is the Boite. In 1809 it was the scene of a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, in which Franco-Italian and Austrian forces clashed. In 1918, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, it was the scene of

Battle of the Piave River The Second Battle of the Piave River, fought between 15 and 23 June 1918, was a decisive victory for the Italian Army against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I. Though the battle proved to be a decisive blow to the Austro-Hungaria ...

, the last major Austro-Hungarian attack on the Italian Front, which failed. The Battle of the Piave River was a decisive battle of World War I on the Italian Front. The river is thus called in Italy ''Fiume Sacro alla Patria'' (Sacred River of the Homeland) and is mentioned in the patriotic song " La leggenda del Piave". It was eventually followed by the

Battle of Vittorio Veneto The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought from 24 October to 3 November 1918 (with an armistice taking effect 24 hours later) near Vittorio Veneto on the Italian Front during World War I. After having thoroughly defeated Austro-Hungarian troop ...

later that year.

Viticulture

North of the city of Venice along the Piave river valley is the ''

Denominazione di origine controllata The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; English: “designation of origin”), * ''Indicazione geografica tipi ...

'' (DOC) zone that makes up the Veneto wine region known as the Piave DOC. Here both red and white wine are produced, mostly as

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

wines, with Merlot being the dominant grape of the region. Among the other grapes grown in the region are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet franc (which can be made separately or together as a

wine label Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily incl ...

led ''Cabernet''),

Pinot blanc Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produces white ...

Pinot grigio Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...

, Pinot nero, Raboso, Friulano,

Verduzzo Trevigiano Verduzzo Trevigiano is a white Venetian grape variety that is grown in the Eastern Veneto wine area (northeast of Italy). In the past the name ''Verduz'' referred to a wide range of grape varieties in the Venetian area. By the descriptions found, ...

and Verduzzo Friulano (which can be made separately or together as a wine labelled ''Verduzzo'').P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pp. 190-191 Firefly Books 2004 For wines to qualify for DOC labelling the stated variety, they must make up at least 95% of the blend from grapes that are harvested within a maximum yield restriction—11

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton (United States c ...

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

for the Cabernets, Verduzzos and Friulano varieties, 12 tonnes/ha for the Pinots, 13 tonnes/ha for Merlot and 14 tonnes/ha for Raboso. The finished wines also must meet a minimum

alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

—11.5% for all varieties except Merlot and Friulano which only need to reach 11% alcohol by volume. A separate ''

riserva Reserve wine is wine of a higher quality than usual, a wine that has been aged before sale, or both. Traditionally, winemakers would reserve some of their best wine rather than sell it immediately, coining the term. In some countries the use of t ...

'' bottling for the red wine varieties is permitted provided the wine is aged at least two years prior to release and attain a minimum alcohol level of at least 12.5%.

References

External links

Site of italian newspaper "Il Piave"

Official website of Consorzio Tutela Vini del Piave DOC
- Consorzio Vini Venezia Rivers of Italy Rivers of the Province of Belluno Rivers of the Province of Treviso Rivers of the Metropolitan City of Venice Rivers of Veneto Braided rivers in Italy Adriatic Italian coast basins {{Italy-river-stub