Late last year, Ca’ del Bosco, one of the oldest and most prestigious Franciacorta wineries, opened a striking new building designed by Gabriele Falconi that has regular tours. More and more wineries in the region offer a combination of tours and tastings, including Contadi Castaldi, where for 30 euros you get to tour the winery, sample three different wines, nibble on snacks and ask questions. “What about using Franciacorta with Aperol?”, I decided to ask the chief winemaker Gian Luca Uccelli. His beautiful Italian manners faltered for a moment. “We’d really rather you didn’t,” he said after a slightly painful pause.
There are also walks and cycling routes between vineyards (with e-bikes available should you wish to minimise the exertion). What you won’t find is the ancient cellars you get in Reims. In many cases, Franciacorta’s wineries are housed in industrial buildings (Contadi Castaldi uses a former foundry). Still, there’s enough history in the lakeside town of Iseo, a 20-minute drive from L’Albereta, where pastel-coloured buildings and passiagata-minded walks on the waterfront contrast with 12th-century churches and Roman remains and courtyards. In summer, Iseo has lidos and other swimming areas, while foot passenger ferries trundle over to Monte Isola in the centre of the lake (population 1,800, along with some very nice restaurants).
The first bottle of Franciacorta was produced in 1961 and the area given to its production is just 3,000 hectares, but vineyards seem to cover every inch of available land. In contrast to Champagne’s limestone-based terroir, Franciacorta has six different subsoils, thanks to some handy glacier action around two million years ago. And the taste difference? After tasting my way through three different producers and nine different Franciacortas, if champagne has a biscuit-y acidity, Franciacorta is mellower even though the sugar levels are generally lower than champagne, and much lower than prosecco. Despite pleasing minerality, there’s a sense of generosity that befits the warmer temperatures of the region and yes, I can – after my very diligent research – see exactly why Italians are reluctant to let too much Franciacorta leave its shores.
However, Italians, who make up the vast majority of visitors to Franciacorta, tend to head to their country’s coast and islands in summer and, as a result, hotel prices don’t rocket. And with harvest being gathered around August time – with farmers on workhorse tractors transporting the grapes to local wineries for pressing – the pace of life is generally slow.
Source link : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/franciacorta-idyllic-wine-region-italy-keeps-to-itself/
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Publish date : 2024-05-21 03:00:00
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