Franciacorta

Franciacorta refers to a DOCG appellation in Lombardy, south of Lake Iseo, devoted to sparkling wines made by the traditional method with a second fermentation in bottle. The permitted grapes are chiefly chardonnay and pinot noir, supplemented by pinot blanc and erbamat. These fine bubbles, often compared to champagne for their rigour, achieved DOCG status in 1995, the summit of the Italian appellation hierarchy for sparkling wine.