Franciacorta: value artisanal sparkling hidden by the shadow of Champagne

 ROME - You have been duped by Champagne. Let’s face it: our society is driven by consumerism and the perceived value behind what we are consuming. A presumption of prestige or poverty is found behind every label. Champagne, in this sense, is luxury. Champagne is a romance. Champagne is myth. In fact, the myth of its creation floated through circles of the cognoscenti for decades until very recently.

 Dom Perignon, the “blind” monk, discovered the stars in a bottle by chance, while in the depths of a cellar in the small northeastern French town of Hautvillers. This myth was likely started by the massive Champagne house, Moet et Chandon, whose ‘prestige’ bottling is named after the monk. And again, while largely debunked, stories die hard. The mystique behind the label stands in most consumers’ eyes.

 Champagne is special. It is luxurious. And Dom Perignon did assist with many wonderful advancements in the early stages of industry, but the style (and the subsequent process) is no longer unique to Champagne – the specific sparkling wine, made in a specific place, three-and-half hours northeast of Paris.

 It is true, that sparkling wine was a natural accident that occurred around the advancements in glass production. After clay and then wood, wine began to be stored in smaller quantities in various forms of glass flasks, beginning in the 16^th Century. While the understanding of fermentation has been known for thousands of years, the impact of its processes (creation of heat, carbon dioxide, sulfites, and of course, alcohol) on these early forms of glass was unknown. After harvest and then fermentation, wines were rested in cool dark places for storage and preservation. What were thought to be finished wines had stopped fermenting because of the cold (yeast becomes completely inactive at 1C/34F and starts a metabolic slowdown long before that). These wines stored in early forms of glass containers, slowly warmed as spring approached. The trapped gases would dissolve into the wine, in turn creating pressure – a little too much for these rudimentary flasks. Voila. Sparkling wine is discovered.

 While the Champenois would want you to, again, believe that romantic discovery occurred in a cellar under their vineyards, the oldest written records (1531) come from a little-known area in southern France, called Limoux. Wine production in Champagne didn’t even begin for nearly another 100 years. This original style of sparkling wine – the capturing of CO2 from an unfinished, or incomplete, fermentation is referred to as Méthode Ancestrale, Col Fondo, or Pétillant Naturel (aka Pet-Nat).

 What the Champenois did do (and what the blind monk most certainly had a hand in) was create a refined, more complex version of this initial accident. Rightly referred to as the Champagne Method (Méthode Champenoise, or Méthode Traditionnelle), the Champenois producers allowed their initial wine to finish fermentation. This was stored, allowed to settle, and then bottled with a little yeast, nutrients, and sugar – all the instigators for another round of fermentation. Under a sealed cap in stronger, more evolved glass bottles, the gas from the second fermentation was captured almost entirely, resulting in a much higher pressure which subsequently aids in finer, more persistent effervescence. The textures of a great Champagne alone can be intoxicating. But as much as they tried to protect their methods, the specifications have been circling the globe for decades now, resulting in astonishing examples of the Champagne style in, to name a few places: New York, California, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Spain, Austria, Germany, and of course, Italy.

 It is not a surprise that the first thought of sparkling wine in relation to Italy is the ubiquitous Prosecco, also made from a “specific” place…that is not so specific. The once tiny enclave in the foothills of the Alps, between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, just north of Padova, currently covers most of the Veneto and the entirety of the neighbouring Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The inexpensive (for the most part), tank-fermented (for the most part) beverage, delicious to thoughtlessly sip any time of day on any day of the week – solo, in a Buck’s Fizz, or you-name-it-Spritz – is expected to reach an annual production of 1 billion (yes, with a “B”) by 2030. Italy is the home of an inexpensive “quaffer” that litters the shelves of discount supermarkets, wine shops, bars, and restaurants the world over.

 It is equally no surprise why little-to-no one outside the city of Milan even know the name Franciacorta, and its connotation to traditional method sparkling wine. The small area designated to produce Franciacorta, nestled in the rolling hills on the southwest shore of Lake Iseo, about a 90-minute drive northeast of Milan, has a wine history dating back to the spread of Cistercian Monasteries in the 12^th century, but its connection to the luxurious Champagne-style reaches back a mere 50 years. In addition, the area’s entire production could sit in a corner of Moet et Chandon’s warehouses. The total production of Franciacorta amounts to 1 percent of Chamapagne production. Combine this with the general perception of Italian sparkling wine marred by cheap examples of Prosecco, and you have a recipe for low international demand and low pricing.

 Yet the standards are high here. In fact, the regulations are more stringent in Franciacorta than Champagne. While the minimum ageing in Champagne has recently (very recent…) been raised from 12 to 15 months, Franciacorta, from its inception had a minimum of 18 months aging for it non-vintage wines. Harvesting in the massive territory of champagne can be executed by tractor. In Franciacorta, hand-picking is compulsory. Grapes, while not identical are predominantly the same and from the exact same family. Champagne is produced from three principal grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. Franciacorta is primarily made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Blanc (a mutation of Pinot Noir).

 The real win comes back to the pricing. Franciacorta, treated in a more luxurious manner than its luxurious French neighbour, clocks in between one-third and one-half of the price. Some producers to become familiar with: Barone Pizzini; Ca’ del Bosco; Arcari Danesi; Ricci Curbastro; Girolamo Bosio; Arici; Enrico Gatti. It is hard to say how long these wines will stay at a lower demand, but for now, one would be advised to do the getting while the getting is good.