Franciacorta

Last Friday, I attended a symposium about Franciacorta, the DOCG for sparkling wines made in the traditional method in Italy.

Rose Hill Historic House

The talk was given by Paul Wagner of Balzac Communications, who has studied the region in depth, but also represents many of the producers through Balzac.  It was hosted by Harriet Lembeck at her Wine and Spirits school in the Rose Hill Historic House in Murray Hill.

First, a little history about the region.  Franciacorta is in the northern region of Lombardy, about 1 hour east of Milan.  It's a mild climate tempered by Lake Iseo and the Alps.  Franciacorta is a wealthy wine region, home to the Riva boat manufacturer and the Beretta family (of gun fame) who have a home on the Lake.  Most people who have homes in the region live in Milan.

Franciacorta is the first wine region in Italy to receive the DOCG quality designation in the traditional method.   That's all they make -- sparkling wine. The official grapes are chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot bianco (up to 50%), unlike in Champagne which uses pinot meunier as the third allowable grape.  Mostly though, the wines are chardonnay driven.

It sells over 10.5 million bottles per year.  It's the official wine for Milan Fashion Week, La Scala opera house and the Italian soccer teams.  Needless to say, they sell everything they make, which is quite an accomplishment.

We tasted 6 wines in all.  One wine called Ronco Callino Satén, meaning satin in Italian, was made with less carbonation and less acidity than other sparkling wines.  It was softer in the mouth, had a huge foam with smaller beads.  It was made as a primer for those who are not into sparkling.

In all, they were all pretty delicious.  Guiseppe said he would LOVE to visit the region next so let's get packing!


Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Hill_(Manhattan)
www.balzac.com