Last weekend, Lake Iseo came alive with two truly extraordinary events: the Franciacorta Festival for all #WineLovers and the Feast of Santa Croce in Monte Isola for all #FlowerLovers.
Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about the Santa Croce festival held in Monte Isola... it's true that I've only been living here for a short time, but I found out about it on Saturday morning from Annalisa, my landlady... and I was very surprised. How is it possible that I knew nothing about it? Maybe I live too isolated a life in a lake on the edge of the world... but I'm doing pretty well so I'll carry on like this 😀 What I do know is that it is a very old festival dating back to the 1600s, with a very particular historical dualism: legend has it that it originated in Carzano as a tribute from the population spared by the plague, while more recent research has it that it originated from a vow that the population made to the Holy Cross, decimated by a tragic cholera epidemic, which had claimed many victims in Monte Isola. What is certain is that this festivity, also known as the Monte Isola Flower Festival, has been handed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years and every five years fills the municipalities of Carzano and Novale with pine bows and paper flowers made strictly by hand by the inhabitants of the island. The highlight of the festival has always been 14 September, when a procession with the holy relic of the Cross of Christ passes by the sun-drenched flowers, so beautiful they seem real.
Yes, I know, you like wine and want me to tell you about Berlucchi and the Franciacorta Festival... but I'm sure the flowers of Monte Isola are also worth a walk... especially if you're in the area 😉
Francesco and I tried on Sunday after the visit to the Guido Berlucchi winery... but Monte Isola was so full of people that they even blocked navigation... and we from Sale Marasino could do nothing but go home... promising to organise ourselves in 5 years' time so as not to miss it! Ah! At Sale Marasino we were literally robbed: Coldiretti's stall with the famous 'farmer's ice cream'... I won't tell you the pain... a frozen, cheap packaged ice cream sold at a gold price... I just can't stand these mockeries!
And now, finally, let me tell you about Berlucchi... first of all, this visit allowed me to meet Francesca, who is in charge of external relations and the press office... really nice and professional! She told me something I didn't know: next summer the artist Christo will transform the island into a peninsula with a spectacular installation, and there are already rumours of a sell-out in and around Franciacorta...
The Bulgarian artist's project Christo is to build a modular, floating bridge, capable of providing a pedestrian walkway just under ten metres wide to cover the approximately eight hundred metres that separate Sulzano, the landing area, with the Peschiera Maraglio (Monte Isola) landing.
Well... I won't hide the fact that I found this project extraordinary... just as I find it extraordinary that Christo is self-financing his work for a total bill of 10 million euros! As an inhabitant of Sebino, however, while I am happy for the hoteliers, restaurateurs and traders in the area, I fear that this event will attract too many tourists from all over the world. As the New York Times itself pointed out, Lake Iseo, whose real name is Sebino, is an unknown wonder. I would add that the magic of this lake lies in its untamed and wild nature, in the rocks overhanging the water... in the few and difficult connections between its villages... I wonder how it will be able to withstand a real invasion of tourists... even if only for 15 days! But I confess that I can't wait to walk on the water with Francesco to wander from one island to another... it must be really romantic on the 'emptiest' days and times.
But back to Guido Berlucchi! I did not have the pleasure of seeing Palazzo Lana Berlucchi on this particular occasion but, as it is rumoured to be extraordinary, it will be a good reason for me to visit dear Francesca again if she is pleased to invite me again 😉
I spent a wonderful afternoon in the historic Berlucchi cellars and the hospitality was truly excellent. The only negative note was the guided tour with 50 people... you are all tightly packed, with the guide running from one room to the next for fear of crossing paths with the next visitor and you running after him - literally - in an attempt not to lose the thread! Let's say it would be better never to accept more than 25/30 people on the same visit... even less! But I understand the desire to accommodate all requests received for the Franciacorta Festival and this also does him credit.
I quote a passage I found on their website that I liked very much:
The butler escorted me into the living room of Palazzo Lana Berlucchi. The notes of 'Georgia on my mind' vibrated in the air: Guido Berlucchi was at the piano. I was enchanted by the elegance of his figure, the skill with which his hands caressed the keys. I looked at the centuries-old walls, the family portraits; I noticed the precious furnishings. Everything exuded unostentatious refinement. Berlucchi closed the piano, greeted me warmly and began to question me, a young oenologist, on how to improve his unstable white wine. I answered his questions without hesitation, and in greeting him I dared: "What if we also made a sparkling wine the French way?".
From a memoir by Franco Ziliani
The historic wine cellars are really impressive... and I was a bit excited, especially having visited them after reading the story about their websiteI also admit that I did not know that the first Franciacorta was born there, in 1961, from Franco Ziliani's meeting with Guido Berlucchi. So I read the history of both... and I must say I fell in love with it! What a utopia trying to reproduce an alternative to Champagne in Italy when the right equipment was not yet available! I can imagine the effort, the sweat, the disappointments, the courage to start again, the failures, the criticism... but they didn't give up... and they got the desired result! I am reminded of Mandela's historic phrase that goes something like this: 'A winner is only a dreamer who has never given up'. That's how they are. And I feel the same way.
Seeing one of the 3,000 bottles of the first Franciacorta in front of me... really moved me and you don't know what I would give to have been one of those lucky ones to have tasted it when it was still drinkable!
The visit to the cellar was pleasant despite the running here and there and ended in a room where we tasted two Franciacorta wines from the Berlucchi '61 line, the Rosé and the Satén, accompanied by a good bread and Ret, Salame di Capriolo. Mind you... not from Capriolo meat, but from the village of Capriolo in the province of Brescia. I found it to be of extraordinary goodness! The pork meat is minced with a knife, mixed with a little finely chopped sage and flavoured with Franciacorta white wine and local garlic, and then stuffed into the bladder or stomach of the pig itself. This particular one came from Palazzi Silvano's Macelleria Polastri, which I promised myself I would visit soon! Slurp! I found the Franciacorta Brut Rosé from the Berlucchi '61 line to be undemanding but pleasant and perfect with an aperitif of this type... the classic bottle that you can uncork without any worries on an evening like any other with family or friends while enjoying your local cured meats. Then if you can get hold of some of this ret... it's the death of it! *_*
Francesca was kind enough to give us two bottles of Cellarius, the famous vintage classic method inspired by the historical figure of the dispensary. I remember that I had tasted the Cellarius a few years ago and had not disliked it at all. That same evening, I opened the Rosé, a wine that certainly does not stand out for its strong personality, but whose innate refinement can easily please the less experienced, and therefore has the merit of succeeding in bringing the average consumer closer to the Italian metodo classico. I found the colour beautiful, an onion skin pink that you would never tire of looking at. On the nose there is a lot of fruit, a citrine note softened by red fruits... I actually prefer bread crust scents for Franciacorta... but it remains absolutely pleasant. The froth is creamy and the perlage is quite fine, I expected it to be finer in fact, and in the mouth it enters a tad annoying. The Franciacortas I would never tire of drinking are the Extra Brut and Pas Dosé and for this reason I would perhaps have liked to veer more towards Extra Brut with this Rosé, but it would certainly have lost its ability to be highly drinkable afterwards... In short, I recommend the Franciacorta Brut Rosé 2010 Cellarius Guido Berlucchi to those who are approaching the méthode champenoise of this extraordinary land and is not yet ready for a more demanding, special and structured wine, but will nevertheless appreciate its balance and delicate fruit.
Today, Guido Berlucchi is a winery that makes big numbers and therefore, from a strictly oenological point of view, should be evaluated in this light. One certainly cannot expect the fancy and special treat, but rather can praise an elegant wine whose strong point is its cleanliness. When I think of Berlucchi, I think of the wine that accompanied the toasts at the festivals of my childhood, and because of this being an actor in my memories, I cannot do other than uncork a bottle from time to time to pamper myself as a child again.
See you soon,
Chiara
And you were at the Franciacorta Festival? Tell me about your experience in a comment! Thanks for reading 😀
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