Winemaker Notes
Brilliant straw yellow with rich, abundant foam and a fine persistent bead. Slightly floral, elegant, notably intensity with notes of yeast and freshly baked bread. Structured, but smooth and creamy, even in its dry flavor, with fruity notes, and a long balanced finish.
Excellent as an aperitif with hors d’oeuvres, soft cheeses, and delicate fish dishes.
Blend: 60% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Bianco, 10% Pinot Nero
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
As you pop open the bottle, you are transported to a warm kitchen as freshly sliced green apples are laid down in fresh and buttery pastry dough and the warm breeze brings in aromas of flowers and herbs from a nearby garden. The palate keeps you in the day dream with bright apple flavors bursting across the palate as hints of cream give a rounded texture. The wine finishes with a lift and brings a smile as your focus comes back to the glass. Vinifera Imports.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Radiant and vibrant, the NV Franciacorta Brut offers a fresh and immediate drinking style. This lean-bodied blend of 60% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Bianco and 10% Pinot Nero presents aromas of preserved lemon, summer peach, toasted nut and bread crust. This sparkling wine's beading is refined and tight.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
Containing an exciting mix of wine producing subregions, Lombardy is Italy’s largest in size and population. Good quality Pinot noir, Bonarda and Barbera have elevated the reputation of the plains of Oltrepò Pavese. To its northeast in the Alps, Valtellina is the source of Italy’s best Nebbiolo wines outside of Piedmont. Often missed in the shadow of Prosecco, Franciacorta produces collectively Italy’s best Champagne style wines, and for the fun and less serious bubbly, find Lambrusco Mantovano around the city of Mantua. Lugana, a dry white with a devoted following, is produced to the southwest of Lake Garda.