Countdown to the Franciacorta Festival!

From 19 to 20 September the Franciacorta is celebrating its annual festival, which will feature a series of truly unmissable events for all lovers of bubbly! And there will be something for everyone: winelovers will be able to take part in vertical and themed tastings, while foodies will have their palates delighted by many local specialities! And for art and music lovers like me, they will be able to enjoy extraordinary works while drinking Franciacorta. I am truly enraptured... by the way... you really should drop by La Montina to see their wonderful museum of modern art... and drink a vintage rosé perhaps... trust me 😀

I am really super excited! Partly because I love bubbles... especially Franciacorta... and partly because the wineries have really tasty programmes... I'd like to attend them all... I think I'll do my best to be omnipresent! (Of course I'll tell you about it later... 😀 )

We start with Berlucchi... did you know that the first Franciacorta was born in 1961 in their historic cellars?

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I personally will take advantage of the kind invitation and visit their cellars on Sunday afternoon... but for foodies there really is an event not to be missed: thePOP aperitif with Davide Oldani. A style that goes well with Berlucchi '61, the Franciacorta wines with their delightfully retro look and irreplaceable taste pleasure. Cristina Ziliani, Guido Berlucchi communications manager and creator of the event, says: "We bring the public closer to Franciacorta through an encounter with the fresh and authentic style of a great interpreter of contemporary Italian cuisine. And as a preview, I want to reveal the 3 dishes that will be the stars of the event:

• Saffron puffs, blue cheese, fig compote and toasted seeds meet Berlucchi '61 Brut. "A classic taste for a balanced Franciacorta with character: a meeting of equals," says the chef.
• Centrifuged fruit, vegetables and cocoa beansmarrying the soft sensations of Berlucchi '61 Satèn. "A combination that combines the delicate consistency of the centrifuge with the silky texture of this type of Franciacorta," Oldani continues.
• Salami paste, chickpea panella, tamarind and crispy olives, for Berlucchi '61 Rosé. "The salami requires a Franciacorta with a round, persistent taste like this Rosé; the reference here is not only gustatory, but also chromatic".

What to say but IMPERDIBLE?

Well, if I may make a small criticism... but how poorly we promoted this Franciacorta Festival! I mean... I adore Franciacorta... I live on the edge of Franciacorta... and I found out by chance on Facebook from my friend Claudio Gagliardini who was there! OK, my passion for bubbles is recent... we're talking less than a year... but how is that possible? So I talked to friends and acquaintances in the area... and many were unaware! More needs to be done in terms of communication! We started talking about it much too late in my opinion!

In 1570, the Brescian physician Gerolamo Conforti, whose studies preceded the insights of the illustrious abbot Dom Perignon, wrote and printed the book 'Libellus de vino mordaci' in which he emphasised the considerable diffusion and wide consumption that bubbly wines had at that time, describing them as 'mordaci', i.e. sparkling and bubbly.
Not only that: he described them with expert tasting expertise, going so far as to judge them as having 'a spicy or biting flavour that did not dry out the palate, like unripe and austere wines, and that did not make the tongue soft like sweet wines' and listed their therapeutic qualities. For Conforti, who, by the way, had an in-depth knowledge of French oenology, Franciacorta wines became more bubbly during the winter period, only to fade, mellowing, during the summer months.

I mean... if even Conforti said that Franciacorta has therapeutic qualities... why not drink it? ;-D

But how is Franciacorta produced?

Franciacorta is a classic method sparkling wine made according to strict Franciacorta specifications from grapes of chardonnay, pinot noir e pinot blanc (max 50%).

Harvesting is carried out strictly by hand between the 2nd decade of August and the 1st decade of September. Afterwards, the whole bunches undergo a soft pressing and the first fermentation of the free-run juice takes place. At this point, the cuvées are created, i.e. different grape varieties, different vineyards and different vintages are blended and the bottling and draughting takes place, i.e. sugars and yeasts are added and the bottles, closed with metal corks, are placed horizontally. With the increased pressure and CO² produced, the famous second refermentation in the bottle takes place.

Ageing period:

The bottles are then shaken and undergo 1/8 of a revolution per day until refrigeration, where the cork is immersed in cooling liquid to become one with the yeasts. With disgorging, the deposit is extracted together with the cork, and in the subsequent topping-off phase, the type of Franciacorta to be obtained is determined.

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RABBOCCO

Metering syrup: Franciacorta wine + g/l sugar quantity

My favourite is the Dosage Zero... but I also really appreciate the Extra Brut 😉 What is your favourite dosage?

Needless to say, at this point the bottles are marked DOCG... shall we open one together? 😀

In short, this Franciacorta Festival is only three days away. Have I already said I can't wait?

I would say it is a must-attend event... so I expect lots of participants! Don't forget to leave me a comment telling me if the event interests you and which wineries you would like to go to... I hope to visit as many as possible 🙂 Then of course I will tell you about my experiences here on the blog...

It may be démodé, but a toast to the success of this event... I can't wait to go with Francesco <3 ... who knows, maybe I can't indoctrinate him on the need to replace all the water with Franciacorta dosage zero at home... 😀 😀 after all, there's little you can do: water rusts... and do you know what a spectacle it is to bathe in Franciacorta by candlelight?

A hug,

Chiara