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TOAST TO THE SEASON WITH FRANCIACORTA, THE HOTTEST PREMIUM BUBBLY TO ARRIVE FROM ITALY.

Every bottle of Franciacorta, Italy’s premium sparkling wine, carries a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG), the most premium mark for Italian wines. It indicates a controlled and guaranteed designation of its origins, production method and quality. For Franciacorta, here’s what that means.

From Rich Soil Comes Premium Wine

The grapes for Franciacorta wine come from Northern

Italy, in an area of about 200 square kilometres in the heart of Lombardy, bordering Lake Iseo in the province of Brescia (about an hour from Milan). The region’s gentle rolling hills, bounded to the west by the Oglio River and to the northeast by the furthest extensions of the Rhaetian Alps, were created by retreating glaciers which, more than 10,000 years ago, formed the natural amphitheater in which Franciacorta is nestled. The ancient origins of Franciacorta’s geography give the soil of this area an extraordinarily rich mineral content that makes for top grape-growing, and the wildly expressive fruit that goes into every bottle of Franciacorta sparkling wine.

A Commitment to Organic

More wine lovers are choosing organic, and Franciacorta is one of the first international denominations with a commitment to organic viticulture, with more than

62% of the vineyards in the region organically grown. Today, 1,282 hectares of Franciacorta are managed organically

(with another 642 hectares under conversion to organic cultivation).

An Ancient Method That Guarantees Quality

The production of Franciacorta is still carefully regulated at every stage. The recipe for Italy’s highest-quality sparkling wine includes guaranteed hand-picking of the delicate Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc grapes. Then, a natural in-bottle refermentation of the wine happens over the course of a slow maturation, during which the wine ages sur lie (on the spent yeast cells, or lees) for at least 18 months. Patience, painstaking care and this ancient method create the wine’s signature luxurious bubbles and rich, creamy texture and flavours.

Made in Italy

The creation of Italy’s own premium sparkling wines was recorded in the Libellus de Vino Mordaci by Gerolamo Conforti, an physican who was the first to document the complex

Italian technique for fermenting sparkling wines in the bottle. By 1809, other vintage texts reported up to 1,000 hectares of Franciacorta vines under cultivation.