Franciacorta - 31 producers tasted

Highlights from a timely showcase in London

Fellow Substacker Nelson Pari:

…and 67 Pall Mall head sommelier Federico Moccia have recently been working with Italy’s best-known traditional method sparkling wine appellation, Franciacorta. It has long been a gripe of mine that we don’t see many of these wines in the UK, so I was delighted to take my time at a much-needed showcase yesterday.

A few Franciacorta facts:

REGION - Lombardia, South of Lake Iseo

SIZE - 2,200 hectares (about one fifteenth the size of Champagne)

GRAPES - Chardonnay (81% of plantings), Pinot Nero (15%), Pinot Bianco, Erbamat

ZONES/SOILS - Complex, formed by a splitting glacier. Loosely speaking there are three main areas: the Morainic amphitheatre carved by the glacier at the heart, the Alpine foothills to the East and Mount Orfano/Southern areas. Soils are complex thanks to the glacial movements - gravel, sand, silts, clays, with the classic ‘Morainic’ glacial soils concentrated in the amphitheatre. Lake Iseo moderates summer heat, and altitudes go up to 550m. Harvest is usually mid-August. (There’s a great Zoning project you can look at here)

WINES - Non-vintage (18 months on lees), Satèn (white grapes with a max. 50% Pinot Blanc, pressure less than 5 bar), Rosé (at least 35% Pinot Noir), Millesimato (30 months on lees minimum), Riserva (60 months on lees minimum).

A very cool 3D map of the region - I’d love to get one of these…

I tasted everything (apart from one producer): each showed two wines, which were almost universally entry level cuvées - a great idea that Nelson told me they were especially keen to encourage (although some of the larger producers skipped their true entry level wines). Present were 1701, Elisabetta Abrami, Antica Fratta, Barone Pizzini, Bellavista, Guido Berlucchi, Bonfadini, Ca’ del Bosco, Castel Faglia Monogram, Castello Bonomi, Castelveder, Collini della Stella di Andrew Arici, Contadi Costaldi, Faccoli, Freccianera (Fratelli Berclucchi), I Barisei, La Montina, La Torre, Majolini, Marchese Antinori, Marzaghe, Mirabella, Monzio Compangnoni, Mosnel, Muratori, Quadra, Ricci Curbasto, Santa Lucia, Santus, Vigneta Cenci and Villa Franciacorta.

The standard was high. Here were my highlights, and a few thoughts:

1701. Organic grower estate. I enjoyed these more than I have done previously, with a slight preference for the Brut Nature over the 2018 Satèn. Delicacy and purity in the style, which isn’t shooting for big/rich pastry/buttery or autolytic characters. Rather nuanced and naturalistic, with a pointed, snappy dryness.

Bellavista Good wines from this important producer. The style has some toasty-nut plushness and seriousness, but plenty of candied lemon/butter/almond friendliness too. Silky mousses, smoothed-out shapes. Once again I actually preferred the Alma Grande Cuvée to the Vintage 2018 (but then 2018 isn’t the most subtle vintage).

Guido Berlucchi The (much) larger half of the Berlucchi family (the other half is ‘Freccianera’, which was called ‘Fratelli Berlucchi’). Entry level wasn’t poured here, but the interesting wine was a single vineyard ‘Palazzo Lana Extreme’ 100% Pinot Noir from 2011. Dried apple, brown toast, eucalyptus - dynamic, dry and mature. ‘61 Nature is not quite as balanced as the other (recommendable) ‘61 cuvées for me.

Ca’ Del Bosco Hard to argue with these - an important producer in great form. The Dosage Zero Vintage Collection 2018 was my favourite 2018 in the room - not just all about the heat of the vintage, this had some light and shade. Tart lemon, some blue fruit and smoky energy, complex and really energetic for 2018. Great stuff.

Castelveder Lovely entry level Brut from this 12 hectare grower estate. Precise, airy and approachable pears and lemon; dialled-in.

Contadi Costaldi The affordable wines from the Bellavista stable, made with contracted fruit. These are bright, peppery and easy wines, carefully-made at the price point.

Freccianera. Previoulsy ‘Fratelli Berlucchi’, but rebranded for clarity. 400,000 bottles. The Brut Rosé 2018 and Brut 2018 were both terrific. Model entry level - just enough depth and interest, smart blending and plenty of lift and energy. I’ve tasted these periodically over the last few years and this was by far the best showing - you wouldn’t tire of either.

Monzio Campagnoni A new name for me. These - to be frank - rocked. They’re using 40% reserve wines (unusual for Franciacorta), and have integrated them perfectly to provide some real complexity and dimensionality without sacrificing the ease and directness of a good entry-level. Pineapple, candied fruit and lovely citric bitterness in the Cuvée alla Moda, the Rosé Cuvée alla Moda a little more reductive and creamy. Refined, graceful wines.

Mosnel A sizeable grower of 41 hectares. These were excellent, the Brut refreshing and complete with green citrus and almond milk flavours, the Satèn very neat in 2018, managing to stay light-footed and refreshing.

Ricci Curbastro Characterful wines from this small grower in the West of the region. I really liked the Satèn 2019, fragrant with some orange peel and demerara flavours, bright and zingy. An intriguing 2013 Gualberto Dosaggio Zero was developed, drying and alluring with 70% Pinot Nero - spiced plum, blue fruit and a slightly austere edge. I’d personally opt for the Satèn, though. Wacky labels, but I rather liked them.

Santa Lucia These were very smart. Refined textures, and not at all obvious in flavour. Honey, malt and lime in the smooth and settled Brut, the Dosaggio Zero narrow and fine. Recommended.

Villa Franciacorta A 50 hectare estate. These were good - real brightness and quite surprising lemon-juice briskness in the Emozione 2019, more doughy, lime and peach yoghurt flavours in the slightly looser Mon Satèn 2018.

Opinions…

One of the challenges in Franciacorta seems to be when to pick. Maturity, flavour, acidity - a juggling act.

You can taste early-picked Chardonnay (picked to retain acidity but before real ripeness of flavour); it has a sort of overly-green, vegetative or slightly soapy flavour in combination with lees-ageing. It’s subtle, and not hugely off-putting, but the wines can just feel a little raw and mute. To me it seems to allow leesy and creamy flavours to sit forward, sometimes a bit too much.

There’s a window, though, where more than a few producers coax all the delicious, fragranced fully-ripe flavours possible from Chardonnay without letting the wines get too heavy; ir’s clever viticulture, it’s clever winemaking. It’s something I’d love to get into more next year when I visit.

Pinot Noir is a backup act, but an effective one. Pinot Bianco does seem to suffer from the early-picked character even more than Chardonnay (although Ca’ del Bosco use it beautifully) - I think its attraction lies in its fragrance when ripe, although I can’t say that Franciacorta with large percentages of Pinot Bianco are often favourites.

What was striking here is just how consistently good even the basic standard is here. Perhaps it’s a safer place to grow grapes than some other European sparkling wine areas, but it certainly seems rare to find truly disappointing wines.

There were some fine discoveries here, so thanks to Nelson and Federico - I hope we’ll see even more in the UK soon.

Nota Bene….

This substack has been growing steadily this year, and paid subscriptions now mean I can spend about half a day per week on it without working for free (although I sometimes spend more time than I should, really….). If you’d like me to spend more time…have a think about becoming a paid subscriber for the cost of half a glass of Franciacorta per month: