Franciacorta Wine Guide: Grape Varieties in the Franciacorta Region

Franciacorta is wine made in the province of Brescia, in the greater Lombardy region of Northern Italy. Nestled in the warm valleys regulated by Lake Iseo and cooled by winds from the Rhaetian Alps further north, Franciacorta vineyards are largely devoted to chardonnay and pinot nero (pinot noir).

While the area is best known as the eponymous producer of one of Italy’s premier sparkling wines, it also produces two styles of still wine: a Burgundy-style white and a Bordeaux-style red. After the sparkling wines were promoted to DOCG status, the name “Curtefranca” was adopted to refer to the still wines, distinguishing them from the Franciacorta DOCG.

Franciacorta DOCG wines are made in the méthode Champenoise (or metodo classico, as per EU law) using chardonnay, pinot nero, and pinot bianco.

Three main grape varieties are grown in the Franciacorta region:

1. 1. Chardonnay: Chardonnay delivers smooth notes of honey and stone fruit in Franciacorta—veering into tropical territory in warmer years—and is usually blended with pinot nero or pinot bianco. Franciacorta satèn, a blanc de blancs style wine, is made either entirely from chardonnay, or with a blend of chardonnay and pinot bianco grapes.
2. 2. Pinot nero (pinot noir): Franciacorta rosé contains a minimum of 15 percent pinot nero. The grape, a cornerstone of the sparkling wine the area is famous for, adds body and delicate aromatics to the wine.
3. 3. Pinot bianco (pinot blanc): Pinot bianco, though it only accounts for about five percent of the vines in Franciacorta, serves as a balancing influence in white blends.

These two Italian sparkling wines are refreshing and spritzy but diverge when it comes to production and overall character.

• Production: Franciacorta wines—relative newcomers to the Italian wine scene, with its first vintage debuting in 1961—are made in the metodo classico style of winemaking, the Italian answer to French méthode Champenoise. Also known as the traditional method, this sparkling wine production method treats the wine to a second fermentation process in the bottle to produce carbon dioxide—the engine behind a soft, bubbly mouthfeel. The majority of prosecco, which has been produced for hundreds of years, uses the Charmat method. Also called the tank method, this winemaking process involves a second fermentation in large closed tanks that trap carbon dioxide, a byproduct of the fermentation process, in the wine. The wine is then filtered and bottled under pressure with the desired level of dosage for sweetness.
• Character: Like Champagne, Franciacorta wines, especially the brut styles, lead with creamy, toasty flavors of brioche and yeast lees as a result of this bottle-aging. In general, proseccos are lighter and fruitier than Franciacorta, thanks to glera, a bright white wine grape with high acidity.

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