FRANCIACORTA
Franciacorta, a wine whose sole identification is the name of the limited, well-defined geographical area where its vines grow and its producers are situated. The labels bear only the name Franciacorta: a single term defines the territory, the method of production and the wine.

Uniqueness: Franciacorta was in 1995 the first Italian wine, produced exclusively by bottle refermentation, to obtain Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status and become DOCG, the highest possible acknowledgement of a wine’s quality and typicity.

Blend: Chardonnay and/or Pinot Nero grapes. It s allowed to use Pinot Bianco grapes too for at most 50% of the blend.

Production timescale: production of non-vintage Franciacorta requires a leisurely time horizon. About seven months after the vintage, the base wine is inoculated with yeasts and bottled. A minimum of eighteen months of slow bottle refermentation with yeasts contact will have to pass before it is disgorged, while for non-vintage Satèn and Rosé times are even longer: till twenty-four months. For vintage Franciacortas, the production protocol demands a minimum period of ageing on the yeasts in bottle of thirty months. Much more patience is needed to taste a Franciacorta Riserva: winemaking and maturation continue for at least sixty-seven months after the vintage, sixty of which are spent in bottle on the lees. The following flavour types are permitted: Undosed (Non dosato, Pas Dosé, Dosage Zèro, Nature), Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Sec and DemiSec.

Tasting notes: very fine, lingering perlage; pale or intense straw yellow with greenish highlights; nuanced but distinct yeasty notes of crusty bread, accompanied by subtle clove-led spice-lifted hints of fresh and dried fruits, including almonds, hazelnuts and dried figs; pleasing savouriness and freshness on the palate.

How to enjoy Franciacorta: a superb wine to drink through the meal. The various flavour types can be matched with an extremely wide range of foods and products. Each wine type has its own distinct personality. Serve in Franciacorta glasses at a temperature of 8-10 °C.

How to store Franciacorta: to store the wine correctly, lay the bottles on their sides so that the cork remains moist and expanded, ensuring an air-tight seal, in a cool, dark environment at a constant temperature of between 10 and 15 °C, with a humidity of about 70 to 75%.

The various Franciacorta wine types

Franciacorta
Blend: Chardonnay and/or Pinot Nero grapes. It s allowed to use Pinot Bianco grapes too for at most 50% of the blend.
Winemaking: refermentation in bottle with a minimum of eighteen months ageing on the yeasts; winemaking and maturation continue for at least twenty-five months after the harvest. Bottle pressure is five to six atmospheres.
Tasting notes: straw yellow with greenish or golden highlights; fine, lingering perlage; distinctive yeasty notes of crusty bread on the nose, accompanied by subtle citrus and dried fruits, including almonds, hazelnuts and dried figs; savoury, fresh-tasting, delicate and harmonious.

Franciacorta Satèn
The trademark: was registered by the consortium in 1995 to identify this particular Franciacorta wine type. This name could be used only by producers which were members of the consortium. With the new production protocol (July 7th 2008) Franciacorta Satèn becomes actually a new wine type which can be produced by all the Franciacorta producers.
Blend: (mainly) Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco for at most 50% of the blend (blanc de blanc).
Uniqueness: with respect to other Franciacortas, Satèn presents lower pressure in the bottle, less than five atmospheres, which gives it its special softness in the mouth. Produced only in the Brut version.
Tasting notes: very fine, lingering, almost creamy perlage; more or less intense straw yellow with greenish highlights; nuanced but distinct fragrance of ripe fruit, accompanied by subtle notes of spring flowers and dried or roasted nuts, including almonds and hazelnuts; the palate reveals pleasing savouriness and freshness fusing with the deliciously soft texture, reminiscent of silk on skin. Satèn is one of the supreme expressions of Franciacorta’s harmony, appeal and flavour. Magic in a bottle.

Franciacorta Rosé
Blend: Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Nero (minimum 25%) grapes. Often Franciacorta Rosé have a quantity of Pinot Nero even higher than 25%.
Method: the white and red grapes are vinified separately. Franciacorta Rosé can be obtained from exclusively Pinot Nero base wine vinified with skin contact or from a blend of this wine with Chardonnay and/or Pinot Bianco base wine. The wine may be dosed to produce all flavour types.
Coloration: the Pinot Nero grapes are vinified with sufficient skin contact to imbue the wine with the rosé hue desired.
Tasting notes: The Pinot Nero in the blend gives this Franciacorta its unique body and vigour.

Vintage Franciacorta
Winemaking: obtained at least 85% from base wines from a single vintage; winemaking and maturation continue for at least thirty-seven months after the vintage, thirty of which are spent in bottle on the yeasts to impart its intense fragrances and subtle, elegant aromas. Often, vintage Franciacortas remain on the lees for a much longer period than the minimum laid down by the production protocol. So Franciacorta Riserva springs up!
Uniqueness: the label indicates the year, or millesimo, of the harvest.
Tasting notes: Vintage (millesimati) Franciacortas have sensory and gustatory profiles that reflect the weather conditions during the growing year and the quality of the grapes from that particular vintage. The wine is obtained from grapes picked in very special climatic and harvest conditions that brought the bunches to an optimal uniform ripeness.

Franciacorta Riserva
It is a Vintage Franciacorta which can be a Satèn or Rosé too. It ages on yeasts for at least sixty months so it goes on the market after at least sixty-seven months (five years and a half) after the vintage. Since a lot of Franciacorta millesimatos spend in bottle on the yeasts much more time than the canonical thirty months, we intended to enhance their value by identifying them in a specific type. Franciacorta Riserva represents the highest qualitative expression of the territory and of Franciacorta wine producers’ interpretative, as well as technical, capabilities.

Matching with all the various wine types

The range of flavour types makes Franciacorta an outstanding food wine as it can be matched at table with foods of all kinds. Each type differs according to the dosage of the liqueur added after disgorgement.
Each wine type has its own distinct personality.

Non Dosato (less than three grams/litre of natural residual sugar in the wine) - This is the dryest wine in the Franciacorta range. Outstanding for the definition and sharpness of its mousse. Obtained without adding the liqueur that softens and sweetens the final product, it is made from Franciacorta wine alone. Its dry flavour, accompanied by the characteristic fragrances of bottle refermentation – crusty bread and yeasts – make it a perfect aperitif or a wine to drink through the meal.
Extra Brut (less than six grams/litre of sugar) - Very dry, an excellent aperitif as well as a splendid partner for subtly flavoured foods; a fine match for fish, crustaceans and raw shellfish. One slightly adventurous food matching is with cooked cotechino sausage.
Brut (less than fifteen grams/litre of sugar) - Dry but rather softer than Extra Brut, this is undoubtedly the most versatile food wine; an excellent aperitif as well as a splendid wine to drink through the meal, particularly with subtly flavoured dishes.
Extra Dry (from twelve to twenty grams/litre sugar) - A soft-textured Franciacorta with a slightly higher dosage than the classic Brut version, suitable for quiches and baked vegetables. Excellent as an aperitif for those who are not fond of very dry flavours. The wine’s barely hinted at note of sweetness tempers stronger flavours, bringing out the flavour of the food.
Sec, Dry (from seventeen to thirty-five grams/litre sugar) - Less dry, indeed slightly sweet and especially suitable for soft, tangy, fatty cheeses such as taleggio or blue cheeses like gorgonzola. A recommended matching for liver pâté. Excellent with moderately sweet desserts and in general at the end of the meal with petits fours, fruit tarts or sweet focaccia.
Demi Dry (from thirty-three to fifty grams/litre sugar) - The off-dry flavour imparted by the high residual sugar content makes this wine is an excellent partner for traditional sweets and cakes like panettone and pandoro. Equally enjoyable on its own with finger foods or tangy cheeses, Demi Dry is a fine match for a wide range of dishes and products.
Satèn: lower bottle pressure lends this wine a very soft texture and tactile sensations of creaminess. Since it is a blanc de blanc, obtained from white grapes – almost exclusively Chardonnay – Satèn is outstandingly subtle and elegant. Produced only as a Brut wine, it is ideal to drink through the meal but particularly good with oven-baked pasta, delicately flavoured risottos and fish dishes based on sturgeon, salmon, trout, whitefish, tench and fat-rich fish. Excellent with air-cured prosciutto crudo from Sauris, Parma and San Daniele, or moderately mature cheeses.
A very good match for richly flavoured dishes, which are nicely complemented by its freshness
Rosé: Body and vigour mean this wine can be enjoyed with salami and sausages, cep mushroom, asparagus or radicchio risotto, melanzane alla parmigiana (oven-baked aubergines with tomatoes and parmesan cheese), flavoursome fish soups, lamb, veal, frogs and snails. Demi Sec Franciacorta Rosé is a fine match for tarts, petits fours and biscuit-based sweets.

STILL WINES

Curtefranca DOC Bianco
Produced with Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco grapes for at most 50% of the blend, but actually it is produced mainly with Chardonnay grapes. Curtefranca DOC Bianco is straw yellow with greenish highlights and has a particularly subtle flavour. The palate is dry, fresh and velvet-smooth. Minimum alcohol content is eleven degrees.

Curtefranca DOC Rosso
The wine is obtained mainly from Cabernet Franc and Carmenere, a red grape which was present in Franciacorta area during the past and was recently rediscovered. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are present inside the blend too. Its main characteristics are its vibrant, purple-flecked red hue and herbaceous, fruit-forward flavour. This mid-bodied wine has a minimum alcohol content of eleven degrees.

IGT Sebino
In Franciacorta, some of the premium red and white wines are classified as Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) Sebino. Wines bearing the indication Sebino may be produced in tour different types: bianco, rosso, novello and passito.