London’s Caledonian Way is currently multi-tasking as a literary metaphor, thanks to Andrew O’Hagan’s new novel. But real-life stores include AperiDeli; here oftentimes locals, myself included, gather next to takeaways of all-Italian pasta for cheerful, informal wine tastings. At one of these I attended, owner Stefano Cossalter started with a delightful, sparkling rose. Fantastic, I thought, until I saw the £25 price tag.
Fast forward a few months and I found myself 800 miles from the source, staying in the vine-covered, utterly charming L’Albereta. Part of Relais & Châteaux, this 53-room boutique hotel is located between Milan and the Swiss border, near the town of Ebrusco in Lombardy. The vast majority of my fellow guests were Italian; The only other British guests are a couple who are there for their nephew’s wedding.
I watched them, admiring both the fine bubbles in my Bellavista Franciacorta glass and the reflection of the sun through both palm and pine trees on the terrace of Stanza 54, the hotel bar. “Unlike champagne, you definitely get a view here,” one of them said. He wasn’t wrong. In the distance was snow-covered Monte Guglielmo, then the deep blue of Lake Iseo, while in the foreground were rows of vines opening buds to begin the long journey towards my glass.
L’Albereta is warm-hearted and slightly eccentric and was once a hunting lodge, parts of which date from the 19th century. It is full of pattern and liveliness, with gardens filled with sculptures and roses. LeoneFelice, the Michelin-starred restaurant newly managed by young chef Fabio Abbattista, offers completely Italian dishes such as carpaccio, gnocchi with radicchio, and lamb with tiny globe artichokes.
Sharing this hill is the aptly named Bellavista vineyard; Both the hotel and the winery belong to Vittorio Moretti, one of the leading names in Franciacorta wine. With a 15-minute walk through the vines and forest area, you reach the winery area, where the cellars are carved deep into the hills and create the right temperature and humidity. Approximately six million bottles are stored here, and each one is rotated 360 degrees by hand to ensure optimal fermentation.
Unlike prosecco, which usually moves quickly from tank to bottle and then onto supermarket shelves, Franciacorta wine is matured first in oak barrels and then in bottles for at least 18 months, or up to six or seven years for the Riserva categories. While Prosecco uses the glera grape, Franciacorta wine uses and ferments pinot nero, pinot bianco and chardonnay (or satèn, as it is called here). classic method like champagne. Champagne produces around 300 million bottles of its eponymous bubbles a year, while Franciacorta produces only 20 million bottles, the vast majority of which are drunk in Italy. Prices – overall – are roughly in line with Champagne. You can buy a cheap bottle of Franciacorta in the supermarket for around 15 euros, while the most expensive reaches hundreds of euros.
It only takes an hour to drive from Milan to Franciacorta, and in recent years the area has become a weekend getaway for discerning Milanese. This has produced a growing number of boutique hotels, restaurants and enotecas. September also hosts the annual Franciacorta Festival, where the harvest is complemented by parties, music (DJs for cooler wineries; jazz for hipper wineries) and, best of all, food.
Late last year, Ca’ del Bosco, one of Franciacorta’s oldest and most prestigious wineries, opened a striking new building designed by Gabriele Falconi, from which regular tours are offered. More and more wineries in the region are offering a combination of tours and tastings, including Contadi Castaldi, where for 30 euros you can tour the winery, taste three different wines, taste snacks and ask questions. “How about using Franciacorta with Aperol?” I asked head winemaker Gian Luca Uccelli. I decided to ask. His good Italian manners broke for a moment. After a slightly painful pause, he said, “Actually, we’d prefer you didn’t do that.”
There are also walking and cycling paths through the vineyards (e-bikes are available if you want to minimize effort). What you won’t find in Reims are old cellars. In most cases, Franciacorta’s wineries are located in industrial buildings (Contadi Castaldi uses a former foundry). Still, there’s plenty of history in the lakeside town of Iseo, a 20-minute drive from L’Albereta, with its pastel-coloured buildings and statues. passiagataPleasant walks on the beach contrast with 12th-century churches, Roman ruins and courtyards. During the summer months, Iseo has swimming pools and other swimming areas, while foot passenger ferries reach Monte Isola (population 1,800 and some very nice restaurants) in the center of the lake.
The first bottle of Franciacorta was produced in 1961 and the area devoted to its production was only 3,000 hectares, but the vineyards seem to cover every inch of available land. Compared to the limestone-based terroir of Champagne, Franciacorta has six different subsoils, thanks to some handy glacial action some two million years ago. What about the taste difference? After trying three different producers and nine different Franciacorta, if Champagne has a biscuity acidity, Franciacorta is softer, although sugar levels are generally lower than Champagne and much lower than prosecco. Despite the pleasant minerality, there’s a sense of bounty that befits the warmer temperatures of the region, and yes, after much painstaking research, I can fully understand why Italians are reluctant to let too much Franciacorta leave their shores.
However, Italians, who make up the majority of visitors to Franciacorta, head to their country’s coasts and islands during the summer months, and as a result, hotel prices do not rise rapidly. The pace of life often slows down as the harvest gathers around August—farmers using packhorse tractors to haul grapes to local wineries to be pressed.
Franciacorta sounds like everything we Brits could want from a wine-filled getaway. In fact, it is extremely easy to get to: Milan Bergamo, served by Ryanair, is just a 30-minute drive from Ebrusco. However, I preferred the farther Milan Linate airport. From where? Because Milan Linate no longer has fluid restrictions, which means I can return to the Caledonian Way with a nice collection of bottles in my hand luggage.
Fundamentals
Sarah Turner was a guest at L’Albereta (00 39 030 776 0550; albereta.it), which offers doubles from €360 (£308) including breakfast.