Episode 224: Franciacorta Is the Sparkling Wine Powerhouse We've Been Waiting For

Wine Enthusiast Podcast

Jeff Porter interviews Laura Gatti, Vice President of the Consorzio Franciacorta, to explore the prestigious Italian sparkling wine region.

Key takeaways

• Franciacorta is produced using the 'metodo classico' where secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle.
• The region features morainic soils created by glaciers and a climate shaped by the confluence of Mediterranean and Alpine influences.

Main topics

• Regional geography and climate
• Metodo Classico production

Notable quotes

The bubbles are incredibly fine, almost creamy, and suddenly they realize they are not simply drinking a sparkling wine.

Conclusion

The episode serves as an educational guide to understanding the rigoro

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) This episode of the Wine Enthusiast Podcast was sponsored by the Consortio French Accorda. Speaker 3 (0:10) Ciao! Welcome to the Wine Enthusiast Podcast. My name is Jeff Porter and I'm a writer-at-large here at Wine Enthusiast. And today, we are talking about Franciacorta, the iconic sparkling wine region in Lombardia. And today, we are speaking with Laura Gatti, the vice president of the Consorzio Franciacorta, to give us greater insight into Speaker 2 (0:30) this bubbly world. But before we tackle the who, how, and why of the region, let's make sure we understand what and where. All right. So, Jeff. Franciacorta, where in the world are we and what in the world are we? So Franciacorta is Speaker 3 (0:44) a wine region that is about 90-ish miles northeast of Milano. So if you're in Milan, you can like hop a train, drive a car. It's kind of like the same distance time-wise between like San Francisco and Napa Valley. And so you're on this really beautiful lake called Lago Iseo. And the wine region is centered kind of around the eastern and southern edge of that lake. And Franciacorta is specifically a sparkling wine region made in what here in Italy we call the metodo classico style. So that's the secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle. And it's a premier wine region for Italy. The Italians love it. They drink most of it that's made. I don't know if you're familiar. Those who are from the South, like I am, there's an ice cream called Blue Bell Ice Cream. And their tagline was, we eat all we can and then we sell the rest. And that's kind of how I think Italy treats Franciacorta. Speaker 2 (1:42) Well, that's beautiful. Now I want ice cream. So about the region itself, I mean, tell me about the climate, the soils, geography, what sets this place apart? So what's really interesting about this area is it's this Speaker 3 (1:58) So you're kind of in the north central part of Italy and the area was carved out by glaciers moving down the Alps and just, you know, big knife cuts of earth and moving this earth down all the way. And it dug out this lake called Lago Iaseo. The soils are moranic soils. So think of like all the rocks that come from a mountain just being piled up. there and then there's this little mountain at the southern edge of the appalachians called monte orphane or the orphan mountain and basically think of that is all the the dirt that was just left after the glacier melted and it formed its own mountain and then italy over time became part of a sea and then the sea left and the scene came back and so there's also some deposits of like uh calcareous like fossils and stuff like that but it's mainly a moranic soil-based um system really big like river stones and stuff like that good drainage uh it's really kind of a goldilocks area for making wine the other thing that makes it super interesting is that it's this confluence between the beginning of like the foothills of the alps and mediterranean climate and lago isayo is kind of the the linchpin to all that uh you know it's a big deep deep lake at some parts of the lake it's a thousand feet deep And so what that allows it to do is be a heat track. So the heat goes into the water and doesn't necessarily stay around the land. So it has these really beautiful diurnal shifts, you know, the temperature between day and night. What will be warm during the day, it'll be like Mediterranean climate during the day. And then the evening, it'll be cool and alpine and you get the winds coming down from the mountain. So you get this really, it's the confluence of the Mediterranean meeting the Alps, which creates a really special place. to get ripe grapes, but still maintain that acidity you need for sparkling Speaker 2 (3:52) wine. So speaking of grapes, what grape varieties are we talking about here that go into Franciacorta? Speaker 3 (3:58) Okay, so think of the classic grapes you think of with the most famous sparkling wines. So you've got Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but then also you've got Pinot Bianco. And then up to 10 % of some of the wines is this local ancient grape called Herbamont. And Herbamont was actually added to the disciplinare, the rules, only in 2019. But that little grape in itself is basically there as a, you know, respect towards tradition and the history. But it was recently kind of rediscovered. But it's, you know, people know Pinot Noir, they know Chardonnay. Pinot Bianco is kind of like in the family, obviously, of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. And then Herbamont is this really bright, acidic, vibrant, energetic. Speaker 2 (4:42) grape that kind of adds a little more verve to the wine. You know, talking about Italian sparkling wine, what separates Franciacorta from, you know, a Moscato or a Lambrusco? So Franciacorta, again, Speaker 3 (4:55) is those two wines are generally made, Moscato's made usually in the Charmant method and same with Lambrusco. Lambrusco can also do something called a refermentato or like kind of a petnat style. Whereas Franciacorta is made, you know, The first fermentation could be in steel or in wood, and then they put the wine in the bottle that you get at the store. They put a little more sugar and some yeast, the liqueur de tirage is what the French call it, and then cap it off, and that starts the secondary fermentation in bottle. And so the pressure is the majority of Franciacorta is at six atmospheres, so that classic spumante pressure. And then they have another, the cool thing, another separation with French Accord is they have another category called Satin, which is a maximum five atmospheres in it. So it's a little less bubbly and it's got this kind of more hints its name that kind of satin like palette profile, really, really elegant. And they produce Rosé, Blanc de Blanc, Blanc de Noir. There's Reserva, there's Satin. So there's a whole lot of different things you can do and play around with Franciacorta. And the other cool thing is the minimum aging for Franciacorta is longer than anywhere else in the world. So for the non-vintage, it has to be 18 months on the lease or surly before it can even be released. So they started the region in 1960, in the late 60s, I think it was 67. And the whole idea was to go for quality. And there's no shortcuts in this region. And it's relatively small in Speaker 2 (6:35) comparison to other wine regions across the globe. So, you know, you are our wine enthusiast, dedicated French Accorder reviewer. When you're tasting a bottle and reviewing it, what characteristics are you looking for? Speaker 3 (6:49) You know, depending on the category. So