Just in Time for Valentine's -- The Fresh Bubbles of Franciacorta

The common knowledge of Italian sparkling wine begins and ends with two particular types of sparklers: Prosecco and Moscato.

Prosecco is the best known. Prosecco is both the name of the white grape used to make the wine and

Franciacort-ahhhhhh....

the region in the Veneto where these grapes are grown. These wines tend to be on the dry side and tend to be somewhat reminiscent of Spanish cava, the budget-friendly sparkler I’ve mentioned many times.

The other is Moscato, one of my favorite brunch wines. Moscato are fruity, usually low in alcohol, lightly effervescent, and often rather sweet. The best known Moscato hail from the Asti region and are labeled, logically, “Moscato d’Asti.”

[Side note: You’ve undoubtedly seen “Asti Spumante” on your wine store shelf. That term just means “sparkling wine from Asti.” “Spumante” simply means that that the wine is sparkling, not that it’s dry or sweet. Asti Spumante is not necessarily made from Moscato, either.]

There is another Italian growing region gaining in popularity among sparkling wine fans – Franciacorta. This area, located in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy, is about an hour east of the region’s capital, Milan. Franciacorta’s winemakers produce sparkling wines made largely from chardonnay and pinot noir.

Franciacorta differs from the other sparkling wine producing regions in The Boot because of the style of production. Franciacorta winemakers use an identical method to make their bubbly as the winemakers do in the Champagne region of France. This technique, known as methode Champenoise and covered in more detail at other times in this space, involves a secondary fermentation in the bottle to produce carbonation. Franciacorta’s bubbles arise from the same fermentation technique, known in Italy as Metodo Classico. Franciacorta is the first Italian wine region to use this method exclusively.

Bottle with the Franciacorta DOCG seal.

Franciacorta’s growers are a close-knit bunch. 50 years ago, the producers in Franciacorta voluntarily self-imposed regulations on wine production, aging length, nomenclature, etc. As a reward for their efforts, Franciacorta became the first sparkling wine region in Italy to receive “DOCG” status. DOCG, short for Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, is Italy’s highest level of wine appellation and guarantee of quality. DOCG is the same designation used for the top wines in regions such as Chianti, Barolo, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Franciacorta wines, while similar in grape varietal and production style to those in Champagne, are produced from grapes grown in vineyards in somewhat warmer climates than their French counterparts. As a result, these wines tend to be fuller and fruitier in flavor and have a somewhat “sharper” characteristic. Even so, Franciacorta’s sparkling wines are more complex and layered than the other bubble-filled offerings from Italia, and the wider wine-drinking world is starting to take notice.

Catherine at Balzac kindly sent along a few samples of some of these sparklers, which all retail for around $20-25.

La Montina (NV) Franciacorta Brut – This bottle of bubbles is light and approachable, with a considerable continuous burst of tight bubbles. The main flavor characteristic I ran into was orange blossoms, definitely on the nose, but it also echoed across the largely dry palate. The La Montina lost me a little bit at the end, where the orange blossom flavor turned a bit towards orange rind, especially as the wine warmed a bit. To minimize this astringent finish, make sure you have this wine good and chilled when you serve it. I’d suggest it more as an aperitif than anything, especially with nice antipasti. A “little fat in your mouth” helps this wine a great deal.

Ronco Calino (NV) Franciacorta Brut – Of the three bottles, this was the most powerfully carbonated. The bubbles were sharp and quite strong initially, but they faded quickly into a mellow fizz. I thought this had a very pleasant lemon chiffon flavor, with a crisp, prickly finish. On its own, decent enough, but it was excellent with dinner. We had this with a challenging pairing – a green salad with a tart vinaigrette alongside roasted chicken in a caper sauce. The finish cut through the vinegar flavors without a problem, letting that light lemon flavor shine through. For light meals like this, I’d rather open a bottle like this than an okay still wine, adding some festivity to an everyday meal.

Cavalleri (NV) Franciacorta Blanc de Blancs Brut – Of the three, this Blanc de Blancs was our clear favorite. Blanc de Blanc means that the wine is 100% Chardonnay. (The complement, Blanc de Noir, means that a wine is made from 100% Pinot Noir.) The Cavalleri was the driest and crispest, and sported the most firm mousse of the three. The flavor also had more of a “Champagne” character with its tight finish, tart lemony notes and distinct aroma of yeast. On its own, I think it would serve as a really wonderful aperitif. I also thought it handled a challenging Greek-ish salad pairing well, especially if you snagged a bite that had a big blob of goat cheese therein. I would have liked to give this a go with a slightly heavier meal like a roasted chicken or pork tenderloin dish. Money well spent for a bottle of this.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, if you’re looking for a little amore and would like to expose your intended to something a little different with your sparkler, Franciacorta’s a very solid choice. Certainly worth a try for expanding your bubbly horizons.

The Valentine’s Pack

As I get started here, let me once again thank Jeff, the Naked Vine’s foreign correspondent, for his great work with his monthly dinner club writeups. I’m sure Christine the Pie Queen was pleased with her birthday present. If you enjoyed his writeups, please drop him a line in the comment section here.

This set of releases, sent for sampling by the California Table Wine folks, was scheduled to coincide with the king of the Hallmark Holidays. So, would you want to put these in a gift basket? I was sent three samples:

• Apothic Red 2008 California Winemaker’s Red Blend
• Barefoot (NV) Sweet Red
• Bear Flag (NV) Dark Red Wine Blend

Before we get to the wines themselves, I realize I haven’t mentioned what “NV” means – it’s “non-vintage,” meaning the wine is made of a blend of wines not produced in the same year. For instance, when producing a blend, a winemaker might blend a barrel of 2008 Zinfandel with a half-barrel of 2010 pinot noir and a half-barrel of 2009 Tempranillo to get the flavor he or she was looking for.

You see non-vintage most often with sparkling wines, but more and more table wine blends are going to this model. In a relatively consistent climate like California, such a process is usually less expensive and gives a winemaker more flexibility in producing an “even” product from year to year.

As for this bunch of blends, we started by trying the wines individually.

The Bear Flag was our first sip. This wine had, by far, the most interesting label – a potentially chemically-fueled cacaphony of images by an artist named Benton Eduardo. A description won’t really do it justice, so see for yourself:

With a label that screams, “pick me and don’t worry about what’s inside,” I wondered if there would be due diligence done with the product itself – a Petit Sirah based blend with Alicante, Zinfandel, Petit Verdot, and Tempranillo. With that combination, I didn’t expect a blast of acidity, but that’s what I got on the first drink. However, the wine balanced with about half an hour of air. There’s a medium bodied blueberry flavor to it with some smoke on the end. Nothing complicated – a somewhat dry-and-fruity red wine with enough character to make it interesting. Not bad for $9.

Next, we moved over to the Apothic Red Blend. This is a Zinfandel based wine backed up with Merlot and Syrah. I’ve had any number of fruit bombs over the years, but this was, perhaps, the first vanilla bomb I’ve tasted. “It tastes like vanilla candy,” said the Sweet Partner in Crime. I concurred. It calmed down a bit after some air, but the vanilla dominated everything. The promised notes of “mocha, chocolate, and brown spice” from the description were swamped. We set it aside for later to see if it would be worth the $14 pricetag.

We cracked open the Barefoot Sweet Red with some trepidation. We’re clearly not the target audience for this blend of Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Barbera, Grenache, and Petit Sirah. I was a little nervous when I saw that the alcohol content was only 10.5%. Zinfandels can get up to 14-15% alcohol without trying, so I wondered just how much residual sugar there must be in there. The answer? A bunch. This tasted very tart and rather sweet – like Sangria or a Seabreeze. Set me back a step. I’d imagine that this is built for drinkers of white zinfandel who don’t want to be seen drinking pink wine. The flavor profile is very similar. $6.

California red blends tend to be less tannic and more food friendly than the single varietal wines. With red wines, we thought we’d try a classic red table wine pairing. I picked up a couple of filets at the store, boiled some gold potatoes and topped them with butter and parsley, sautéed up some portabella mushrooms with some garlic and red wine. Even in in the middle of winter, I like finding a good excuse to grill, so I knocked the snow off the cover, fired that puppy up, and threw the filets on there for a good searing. (Rare. Yes, please.)

With the wines, the Bear Flag continued to be the top performer. Since it was a little more restrained to begin with, it evolved into a nice companion for the meal. It didn’t really stand out in any way, but it was a nice accompaniment.

The Apothic needed food. Even after a couple of hours of air, the vanilla was still overpowering. With a steak, however, those vanilla notes got blunted quite a bit, allowing some of the other flavors in the wine to come out. The potential was there for a very interesting wine, but it wasn’t evident by itself. It may benefit from a little more time in bottle.

As for the Barefoot? I ate a bit of the filet, had a sip of the wine, and declared, “That was the most unpleasant bite of steak I’ve ever had.” I can’t recommend it, unless you want to either make sangria or pour it over ice with a splash of club soda. As a spritzer, it’s quite decent. (Hey, it was for the sake of science…)

Finally, how about alongside that box of chocolates in your potential gift basket? We actually tried the wines with two-bite brownies. The Apothic was quite good, actually. The vanilla worked with the brownies nicely. The Bear Flag was decent. Nothing outstanding, but a solid choice. The Barefoot? No. Just no.

So, to sum up: I’m not the best judge of the Barefoot. It’s not a wine for me. The Bear Flag is a solid, value-minded choice for drinking or food. With chocolate, the Apothic is good now. It may evolve into a better food wine in a year or so.

Valentine's Day Wine -- wine and chocolate pairings

I had mixed feelings about this installment. In the interest of full disclosure, Valentine's Day may be my least favorite holiday. I won't go off on my long-winded rant about "coming through on February 14^th," societal expectation, Hallmark holidays and the like – so I'll try to focus on the positive. Valentine's Day is supposed to be a day to do something good for your beloved. Gifts, romantic gestures, etc. are commonplace. (Cynical Mike says, "Why shouldn't that be every day?" Down boy.) Two traditions stand out for me -- wine and chocolate.

The most recent wine tasting I attended, led by Brian of Vintner Select, focused on wines pairing well with chocolate. He made the observation that people either really love the taste of chocolate with wine or it simply doesn't work for them -- not much in-between. I happen to be in the former category, as does the Sweet Partner in Crime. He put together an interesting array. Unfortunately, many were outside Vine range.

However, I shamelessly cribbed the idea and sampled a few wines for readers looking to craft a gift basket for someone special. (And for single Vine readers -- that "someone special" can be yourself. You also get the whole bottle to yourself that way…make the best of it!) So here’s something for every palate:

Domaine Ste. Michele Brut Columbia Valley -- Leading off, the traditional "romantic beverage," sparkling wine. (Remember, it's not champagne.) I find dry sparkling wines work better than sweet with chocolates. Although French-sounding, Domaine Ste. Michele is in Washington and is part of Ste. Michele Wineries. They produce Chateau Ste. Michele, Columbia Crest, and Snoqualmie labels among others. This brut is a simple, refreshing palate cleanser. There's a little fruit behind the bubbles, amplified pleasantly by the chocolate. This wine's also very flexible -- it will go with almost any food. It's equally worthwhile on its own, with desserts, in mimosas for the morning after, or -- as we had had it -- with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Tasty. For $8-10, you won't break the bank.

Rosenblum Vintner's Cuvée XXIX Zinfandel -- If you ever see a wine labeled "cuvée" -- that’s WineSpeak for "a blend of different batches or vintages." Winemakers commonly blend bits of wine from different vineyards. In many cases, the whole outstrips the parts. The Rosenblum Vintner Cuvée series is a very accessible set of wines -- and they're especially good for this price. Their cuvée zinfandel hits you with an enormously fruity nose with strong plum and cherry scents. There's a medium body and lots of fruit. The finish is less spicy and peppery than some zins and not overly dry. If you've ever heard a zinfandel referred to as a "fruit bomb" -- here's a prime example. If your intended doesn't like dry reds, here’s an excellent alternative. However, the finish of this wine doesn't hold up well against dark chocolate. The first sip is nice, but the rest of the flavor combination doesn't work very well. With milk chocolate -- normally not so bitter -- the flavors marry really well. Chocolate-covered cherries would be a great combination here, also. At $8-9, a good choice for the Esther Price recipient on your list.

Rabbit Ridge 2004 Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon -- Cabernet sauvignon and chocolate is a classic pairing. The Rabbit Ridge has a pronounced nose of cherry and pine trees. The taste is full bodied and full of fruit. It's moderately dry with a long, slightly smoky, dry finish. Dark chocolate and this wine go hand in hand. The bitterness of the chocolate pulls out the wine's fruit, and the wine's finishing tannins take the edge off the deep chocolate taste, leaving a delicious finish. You'll find this for $8-10. (Personal note on Rabbit Ridge -- one of their former winemakers, Susie Selby, started her own winery in Healdsburg, California, and she cranks out some of the best zins and merlots you'll find. They're out of our price range here, but if you splurge on a Selby wine, you won't be disappointed.)

Jacob's Creek 2004 Reserve Shiraz -- Since the Santa Barbara trip, I've become quite enamored with syrah. Down Under, for whatever reason, the Ozzies call the grape "shiraz." Who knows? Who cares? It's scrumptious, just the same. Shiraz is one of the more widely planted grapes in Australia, and goes fabulously well with chocolate. Jacob's Creek is a widely-distributed Australian wine, and their reserve starts you with a subtle combination of pepper and licorice. The first sip is full of soft, velvety fruit, joined quickly by some spice. The finish is nicely balanced with flavors of cloves and fruit. You might want to crack this one and let it breathe for 15 minutes or so before you serve it to let the fruit open up. I was fascinated by the combination of this wine and dark chocolate. The two tastes took turns coming forward, each complimenting the other wonderfully. The finish was very long and tasty. A bottle runs you $11-13 well-spent.

Until next time, be happy with yourself or others and bundle up against the February cold…