Blog: Franciacorta | Spumante (2/4)

In 1570 in Brescia was also printed the first known text about sparkling wines. Author was the physician Gerolamo Conforti from Brescia and the text, useful also for the knowledge of the wines from the Franciacorta area, has the meaningful name 'Libellus de vinomordaci'. This physician, whose studies preceded the findings of the famous Abbot Dom Perignon, highlighted the widespread and high consumption of sparkling wine at that time, defining it biting ('mordaci'), that is, lively and sparkling.

Not only that, he described the wines with the skill of an experienced taster as 'wines with a piquant or lively taste, which do not dry out the palate like the bitter wines and do not soften the tongue like the sweet wines'. The foam was produced when the must was boiled, or, to be more precise, during fermentation, which even then had to be controlled to avoid losing the 'gaseous, light and pungent slag'. Conforti, however, was not the only one who worked on this matter. Other notable people include Agostino Gallo, Camillo Torello, Giacomo Lantieri and Ortensio Landi. Agostino Gallo, an agronomist from Brescia, wrote the very successful book 'Le diecigiornate della vera agricoltura e piaceri della villa' (The ten days of true agriculture and the joys of the villa) which was published in Brescia in 1564.

In this book Gallo speaks of a 'straw-yellow' wine ('cisiolo'), much appreciated by the nobles of Brescia and sold in Lombardy and as far as Piedmont. The resulting must, while still fermenting, was poured into small oak barrels reinforced with iron rings and waterproofed on the outside with animal fat and then placed in water cisterns, wells or very cold cellars to stop the fermentation process. The result was a sweet, light and sparkling wine, at least until the summer. with the warmth of summer, the sparkle disappeared, but it made the wine last longer and become more palatable after the 'passing of a year'. These oenological practices described by Gallo and Conforti, which are also found in other 14th century episcopal documents, represent the first, scientific codification of sparkling or semi-sparkling wines, even if they were not made in the bottle. - Gerardo [TS10/23]