Blog: Franciacorta | Spumante (3/4)

They were refined and noble wines, like the palates for which they were intended. The tradition of sparkling wine production in the Franciacorta area therefore has very deep roots and it is of little importance whether it began before or after sparkling wine production in other wine regions. What is important is that it is an original oenological process, codified as early as the 14th century, aimed at producing sparkling white wines that are more exquisite than the usual red wines.

What follows is the most recent history, that of Franciacorta. It began in 1967, after nine farms, which based their work on tradition and innovation, were granted the controlled designation of origin 'DOC Franciacorta'. Viticulture in the Franciacorta area had gone through different phases, which did not always correspond to its own historical potential. Thanks to some people who, in the fifties, recognized the potential of the wine that could be produced in this area, viticulture freed itself from its own local and provincial restrictions to which it had been subjected until after the end of the Second World War. Among these people, who worked with passion and perseverance to acquire a new identity, were Franco Ziliani, Guido Berlucchi, Giacomo Ragnoli, Carlo Barboglio dè Gaioncelli, Emanuela Barboglio, Ottorino Milesi and, of course, Gualberto Ricci Curbastro, one of the nine pioneers who were the first to adopt the Franciacorta product specification. The first steps in this direction were very tiring, but in a few years came the birth and then the rapid success of the 'Franciacorta'.

However, it is only thanks to the art and spirit of the people involved that such a traditionally oriented area became a famous wine region. When the Franciacorta area, now 'grown up', created its own consortium, the growth continued on a scientific level, starting with a parcellation study carried out in 1992 with the University of Milan under the leadership of Prof. Attilio Scienza. In this study all the information about soil and climate was collected, soil and leaf analyses were carried out, the microvinifications, the analyses of musts and wines, and the tastings of samples were studied, with the purpose of defining territorial units (entities) in which the qualitative performances of the vineyards could be considered sufficiently homogeneous. - Gerardo [TS10/23]