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Explore Franciacorta in this short audio conversation
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We spent a lovely spring vacation at Lake Garda enjoying the sun after the long winter. And of course, discovering some of the wine regions was also on our agenda. Thus, we planned a day in Franciacorta. From Desenzano on Lake Garda, Franciacorta is easy to reach by car. As soon as the lake is behind you, the atmosphere becomes quieter: vineyards, small villages, gentle hills and old estates. Many wineries are carefully restored and set up for visitors, with tasting rooms, vinotecas and guided tastings.
Franciacorta lies south of Lake Iseo, between Brescia and Bergamo. It is one of Italy’s leading regions for traditional-method sparkling wine, made with a second fermentation in the bottle. The wines are usually based on Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco, and they spend a minimum time on the lees before release. That ageing gives the wines more texture, fine bubbles and often notes of brioche, nuts, citrus and ripe apple.
If you mostly know Italian sparkling wine through Prosecco, Franciacorta is a real step up in quality and ambition. The wines are made by the traditional method, with the second fermentation in the bottle, and usually have more texture, structure and savoury depth. Franciacorta also has a broad range of styles: Satèn can be soft and creamy, Rosé can bring more grip and red-fruit character, and longer-aged wines often show more depth, toast and nutty notes.
Our first stop was Bellavista. We knew the name, and the estate has outdoor sculptures, which made it an interesting first stop before our booked tasting at Ca’ del Bosco. We only stayed briefly and visited the vinoteca. But it gave us a first sense of how Franciacorta presents itself: well kept, visitor-friendly and visually quite considered.
The centre of the day was a visit to Ca’ del Bosco.
It is a sizeable estate. They offer a guided visit and the tour shows the production process in detail: the base wines, the second fermentation, the long ageing on the lees and the work in the cellar.
The other thing that stood out was the art. There are sculptures in the garden and across the estate, including in the winery itself and even in the production areas. It was not only about tanks, bottles and technical explanation. It was also about how a winery chooses to shape its own setting.
That connection between wine and culture felt very Wine all the Way to us. We are interested in wine, but also in the world around it: places, buildings, objects, food, and the decisions that give a winery its character. At Ca’ del Bosco, the art is not there to decorate the winery. It is part of how the estate sees itself. The works are site-specific, made for this place, and meant to connect wine with landscape, architecture and culture.
At the end, we tasted a few wines from Ca’ del Bosco, which was a very good way to close the visit.
Later, we stopped at the Cantine de Franciacorta a wine shop with a broad selection from different estates and bought a few bottles to take with us. Very useful if you want to compare styles and pick up a few names you did not visit yourself.
We ended the day in Iseo. After the winery visits, we were ready for something simple: a restaurant terrace, pizza and a view of the lake. It was a good way to finish a day of wine, cellars, art and impressions.
What stayed with us was the combination of precision, range and visual character. Franciacorta is clearly a serious sparkling wine region, far beyond the easy Prosecco image many people still have when they think of Italian bubbles. The wines can be creamy, structured, savoury, fresh or more deeply aged, depending on the style. The estates we visited also showed how professionally the region presents itself, with well-kept wineries, strong visitor experiences and, in some places, art and sculpture as part of the estate.
Our visit at a glance
Visited: Franciacorta | Italy
Places: Bellavista | Ca del Bosco | Cantine de Franciacorta | Iseo
Date: May 2023
Text & Photos by Birgit Voll
