OVER the holidays, there must have been plenty of sparkling wine bubbling away in glasses raised to good health and good fortune. Champagne. Cava. Prosecco. Perhaps Franciacorta, too.
In the roster of sparkling wine, Franciacorta sits alongside the best of the best but falls short in the familiarity scale. There is enough literature about it, but examples are few and far between (in Manila). And those that are available are simply under the radar because they are not readily available in stores, and the few suppliers around here are known only to the small circle of specialty buyers and collectors. I encountered an example one special evening in July last year, when its importers spirited away a precious bottle from their shipment—ahead of the wine’s official launch in Manila. Over the Gatta Franciacorta and oysters Rockefeller, the plan was hatched to introduce the unfamiliar Italian sparkler via a tasting session.
Gatta is just one of some 100 producers that belongs to the Consorzio per la Tutela del Franciacorta. The organization, headquartered in Erbusco, Lombardia, was established in 1990 to guarantee and monitor the strict quality regulations governing production, as well as the promotion of Franciacorta as a wine, a wine region and a production method.
Franciacorta, the region, is in the heart of Lombardia in northwest Italy, hemmed in by Piemonte on the west and Veneto on the east, areas also known for sparkling wine production. From the Veneto comes Prosecco, and Piemonte produces the famous sweet sparklers Asti, Moscato d’Asti and Brachetto d’Acqui. But what sets Franciacorta apart from Italy’s sparkling wines is its method of production—Franciacorta is produced exclusively by the classic method wherein the second fermentation is in bottle, much like how Champagne is made. It is this wine-wine production method-wine region trilogy that encourages Franciacorta’s comparison with Champagne.
The similarities are striking. Franciacorta is both the name of the wine and the wine-producing region, like Champagne. Chardonnay and Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir), the Champagne blend, also figure in Franciacorta. Both Champagne and Franciacorta are made via the second fermentation in bottle, which the Champagne producers call the méthode Champenoise, and can only be applied to sparkling wine produced in Champagne. Elsewhere in the world where sparkling wine is made in the same way, the term applied is “classic method.” But not so in Franciacorta, where the term “Franciacorta method” is established in the consorzio’s rules and regulations.
But terms notwithstanding, it is also this method which imbues both Champagne and Franciacorta with the telltale stream of super fine bubbles that endure in the glass. This is the result of long aging on the lees, which the method also imposes along with strict minimum aging requirements, at least 18 months for nonvintage and 30 months for vintage Franciacorta. (Nonvintage Champagne is aged at least 15 months; vintage Champagne must come from grapes from a single harvest and requires at least three years of aging.) Gatta’s nonvintage brut Franciacorta, for example, is released after 25 months; the millesimato (vintage-dated) is released after 37 months.
Like Champagne, Franciacorta also comes in varying levels of dry and sweet, in white and rose versions. But the Saten style is solely Franciacorta—made entirely from Chardonnay, but unlike Champagne’s blanc de blancs, is bottled under much lower pressure (not more than 5 bars), making Saten more fizzy than fully sparkling, and more silky soft.
The difference was apparent when the Gatta Franciacorta Brut and Saten 2009 were tasted side by side, the latter markedly softer, ethereal while still displaying the characteristic toasty, biscuity complexity of lees-aged sparklers. I found the Franciacorta Brut richer, rounder with more fruit character. Because unlike in Champagne, the climate is warmer in Franciacorta, explained Daniele Lizze, Master Sommelier and Gatta Brand ambassador, who flew in from Italy to attend the wine’s launch in Manila. Bordered by Lake Iseo in the north and surrounded by hills on its eastern and western flanks, the region is protected from extremes in temperature, the climate moderated by the lake and the hills deflecting strong winds and frost. In 1995 Franciacorta was awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status, Italy’s highest wine designation, making Franciacorta Italy’s finest sparkling wine and the region, one of the world’s most distinguished in sparkling wine production.
But there is no blurring the thin line between Franciacorta and Champagne. This just means more choices for the sparkling wine enthusiast. And to that we raised our glasses (of Gatta Saten) in a brindisi (toast) not only for bollicine (literally “little bubbles,” which is how the Italians call their sparkling wines) but for all the remarkable bubblies in the world.
VINOFILE
Gatta Franciacorta is exclusively imported and distributed by Iphor Trading Inc. (iphor.trading.inc@gmail.com). Contact Adriano Stefanutti or Gale Atienza at 0917-8548900.
