ITALY’S CHAMPAGNE
After hearing Franciacorta incorrectly described as a “more refined prosecco,” UK-based wine authority Jane Parkinson is determined to set the record straight.
BACK IN THE SUMMER, a travel article in a UK broadsheet abruptly ended my peaceful weekend reverie while devouring the Sunday newspapers. Reporting on Lake Iseo and its magnificent surroundings (to be fair the article was already preaching to the converted; I’ve long been a member of the Lake-Iseo-is-waybetter-than-overcrowded-Lake-Garda club, ever since my first visit to the region a number of years ago), the piece was the stuff of utopia. But as I wallowed in nostalgia reading all about the scenery and views and people and food, I then came to the part about its local sparkling wine, Franciacorta.
What a missed opportunity. Not only was Franciacorta gifted one sentence in the entire two-page piece, but it was summed up as, “[it] is like a more refined prosecco.” Ouch. In one fell swoop a hugely promising wine style – and therefore industry – was entirely misrepresented. More’s the point, what a shame for the hardworking folk of Franciacorta who are pouring so much effort and investment into getting themselves appreciated and noticed these days. Apparently though, it still isn’t enough. If nothing else, the article proved the sobering fact that Franciacorta continues to live in the shadows of Italy’s most famous sparkling wine, prosecco, despite the gargantuan differences between them, including production method, location and grape varieties to name but a few. Indeed, while a comparison with prosecco is regrettable, at least an explanation like 'Italy’s equivalent of Champagne’ might have been better because it at least has some accuracy.
Let’s redress the inaccuracies here. Franciacorta is Italy’s traditional method sparkling wine. It’s made in the province of Brescia in the northern Italian region of Lombardy, and as the article rightly reports, Lake Iseo borders the production zone. Vines have been a constant presence here for the best part of 1000 years, but the traditional method sparkling wine we know and love today has only been made here in the last 50 years, with the Franciacorta trademark registered in the early 1990s, followed by the demarcation of a viticultural zone and then by 1997, Franciacorta got its DOCG classification. TODAY, there’s a critical mass of very good producers giving this region its well-deserved place on the sparkling wine world stage. They all use, by law, the traditional method, or ‘Franciacorta method’ as they call it, while chardonnay and pinot nero (noir) are at the heart of these wines. As wine styles go, one biggest difference with Champagne is that pinot meunier doesn’t feature at all. Instead, the third grape of Franciacorta is pinot bianco, and some great Franciacortas have a healthy proportion of this grape.
Even so, a fourth grape variety became legal in Franciacorta
this year – erbamat – an old white variety that’s poor in polyphenolics and ripens late with low sugars, both of which are a benefit for sparkling wine. While the understanding of this ‘new’ grape is work in progress in the region, the law currently allows 10 per cent in the blend.
While the introduction of erbamat helps to solidify Franciacorta’s identity, so too does its unique style of satèn and, in fact, such is its affinity with the region and terroir, I’ve yet come across a bad one. Italian for silk, satèn refers to the smoothness of the palate thanks to a maximum of five bars of pressure of this cuvée, delivering an altogether softer sparkling wine sensation than the typical six bars. Further rules applicable to satén include it being a blanc de blancs, of which pinot bianco can account for a maximum of 50 per cent, and it must spend at least 24 months on lees. FOR ALL ITS excellent qualities, Champagne isn’t Franciacorta’s only ‘rival’ in the high quality, traditional method sparkling wine stakes, as Australia itself can attest. Today, the competition and quality has never been stronger or more diverse. In South Africa, the méthode cap classique – or increasingly these days, cap classique – is South Africa’s often underrated traditional method fizz but finds its markets growing year by year. In Europe, France’s ‘other’ sparkling wine, crémant, is gaining a nice foothold in the market, and a firm place in people’s hearts and fridges, mostly thanks to the huge support from restaurants that have long been avid supporters of this style. While the German sekt is well known, Austria’s fresh, high-acid whites also offer the perfect foundation for high quality fizz, and then, closer to home again (for me, at least), we have English and Welsh sparkling wine, which continues to impress year on year, and especially so thanks to the extra ripeness from the hot summers we’re currently experiencing. This mega warm summer sunshine isn’t just good for the grapes mind you, it also makes for very happy newspaper reading in the garden. Well, sometimes.