Italy’s answer to champagne is franciacorta, the country’s best-kept wine secret. Franciacorta — a name that refers to the territory, the production method and the vino — is a wine hidden treasure region whose sloping hills overlook the shores of Lake Iseo. So, If you are planning some Italy wine country travels, make sure you add Franciacorta to your list!
If you follow me on instagram, you saw in my stories, I had the pleasure to visit a winery with my girlfriend and family in this small bucolic region called La Montina.
Brief History
La Montina is located in Monticelli Brusati in the province of Brescia, in the extreme northeast section of Franciacorta, close to a natural morainic amphitheater where all the transitable roads end and the wooden Mugnina Valley starts to run along Lake Iseo. The extraordinary micro-climate produced by this morphological conformation gives the wine a perfect natural habitat for maturation and growth.
The first reliable information regarding La Montina dates back to 1620 when Benedetto Montini, ancestor of Pope Paul VI, built the mansion today called Villa Baiana. In 1982, the Bozza Family purchased the Montina Estate. The three brothers Vittorio, Gian Carlo and Alberto, faithful to the family’s winemaking tradition, began building the winey, removing, between 1986 and 2007, the equivalent of about 85,000 cubic metres of hillside to create a production facility covering about 7,500 meter square, completely underground.
Winery Tour
During our private tour, Sabrina, our guide, showed us the cellars, the wine-making process and at the end we had a wine tasting of some of the Montina best wines.
It feels a bit strange to visit wineries at a time of the year when not much is going on – no harvesting or bottling. The cavernous storage rooms seem almost abandoned with the only living thing there being the wine as it ages. And so it was here. Sabrina took us down into the subterranean storage cellar. It was a bit cold and had the damp musty smell of an old cellar. Different sized wine-filled barrels of oak lined the room.
Our tasting here included “La Montina Extra Brut” , a 75% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir blend – light yellow color with greenish reflections and a fine perlage surrounded by a delightful crown. Second on the list, “La Montina Satèn Brut”, made only from Chardonnay grapes. It has a soft sparkle with delicate perlage and hints of fresh fruits, acacia and linden. I loved it so much, I ended up buying a bottle before I headed back home. You can’t resist to wine, can’t you?
Last but not least, we had our final tasting. “La Montina Rosè Millesimato Extra Brut” was really different from all the others. This wine is mainly obtained from Pinot Noir grapes. It has a soft and abudant sparkle – hints of berries and ripe fruit.
Next time you are traveling to Italy, consider taking a day trip to this luxurious and practically tourist-free region of wine country. Don’t forget a stop at La Montina!
Note: This post was sponsored by La Montina Franciacorta, however all opinions are my own.
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