Lombardy · Wine route · 1 day
Strada del Franciacorta The signposted loop through the Franciacorta DOCG amphitheatre between Brescia and Lake Iseo.
26
km end to end
1
1 day
6
stops, Erbusco to Iseo
1
denomination crossed
€25
tastings from
Why this drive: Franciacorta invites the Champagne comparison and then asks a tenth of the driving: more than sixty cellars share one small amphitheatre of glacial hills, so Bellavista, Guido Berlucchi and Il Mosnel sit minutes apart rather than districts apart. And it ends with something Champagne cannot stage: a lakefront aperitivo at Iseo with the vineyards still in sight.
The route, drawn
See the whole road, then drive it stop by stop
The map stays with you as you read: scroll the stops and it follows, or press a marker to jump. Leg times are door to door, before the views slow you down.
Layers
The drive
Numbered stops
Estates near the route
Stop 1 of 6 · Erbusco
1
Stop 1 · The zone's capital
Erbusco
The zone's working capital: the consorzio and its Cantine di Franciacorta wine store sit here, pouring across the DOCG under one roof.
What to taste here
- FranciacortaDOCG Brut is the benchmark; nothing still is bottled under this name
- CurtefrancaDOC The still reds and whites the growers keep alongside
A useful first stop to taste widely before the day's booked visits. Bellavista's estate is on the hill directly above town.
2
Stop 2 · The hill of Erbusco
Bellavista
Vittorio Moretti's hilltop estate above Erbusco, founded in 1977 and one of the DOCG's defining houses.
What to taste here
- FranciacortaDOCG Grande cuvee territory, with reserve wines deep in the blend
- Saten The soft-pressure style only Franciacorta makes
Cellar visits run on booked slots and end over the panorama the house is named for. The Curtefranca DOC's still wines share these slopes.
Where to taste
Azienda Agricola Bellavista
Booking required
Wines to Try
A few wines from the estates above.
3
Stop 3 · Moraine mid-point
Adro
A vine village under Monte Alto whose cellars, Ferghettina and Castello Bonomi among them, farm some of the zone's highest slopes.
What to taste here
- FranciacortaDOCG Growers' doors line the lanes through the vines
- Rose Pinot Nero leads the pink cuvees here
Ferghettina's square-based bottles are the local tell; the sanctuary of the Madonna della Neve above the village looks over half the amphitheatre.
4
Stop 4 · Where it started in 1961
Guido Berlucchi
The cellar where Franciacorta began: Franco Ziliani's first three thousand bottles of Pinot di Franciacorta came out of these vaults in 1961.
What to taste here
- FranciacortaDOCG The house that bottled the zone's first metodo classico in 1961
Now the DOCG's largest producer, with historic cellars under Palazzo Lana Berlucchi. Borgonato around it stays quiet outside tour hours.
Where to taste
Guido Berlucchi
View wineryWines to Try
A few wines from the estates above.
Where to eat
A tasting menu in Borgonato's old borgo
Due Colombe. In the borgo antico of Borgonato, steps from the Berlucchi cellars. Booking is mandatory; the room is small and the sittings are few.
5
Stop 5 · Camignone's family cellars
Il Mosnel
A sixteenth-century walled farm estate at Camignone, family-run and organic, its cellars cut into the old farm buildings.
What to taste here
- FranciacortaDOCG Family cellars with generations behind them, still turning pupitres by hand
Visits come in several formats, all booked ahead. From here the lanes roll north-east towards the lake.
Where to taste
Azienda Agricola Il Mosnel
Tastings from €25 · 45 minutes
Booking required
6
Stop 6 · Lakefront finish
Iseo
The lakefront finish: porticoed piazzas, a promenade, and a glass of Saten as the light drops over Monte Isola.
What to taste here
- FranciacortaDOCG Saten by the glass on the waterfront is how the day ends
Ferries cross to Monte Isola from Sulzano, ten minutes up the shore, if the evening stretches. The lakefront car parks are paid and fill early on summer weekends.
Where to eat
Lake fish and a nine-cut bollito
Osteria Il Volto. Via Mirolte 33, a family osteria in the old town: Francesca in the kitchen, Cristiano on the floor, pesce di lago on the menu.
Before you go
The practicalities
Visit prices are set by the winery and availability should be checked before travelling. Bookings open on the estate page or the provider's site.
When to go
Plan around the September festival
September's Festival Franciacorta weekend opens more than sixty cellars at once and is worth planning the trip around; June's summer festival is its quieter sibling. Any dry month works otherwise, since tastings happen indoors and the drives are short. Winter gets you the pupitres without the coach parties.
Booking reality
Two of three houses require the slot booked
Bellavista and Il Mosnel, two of the three stop estates with bookable visits in our data, require booking ahead; Guido Berlucchi lists visits as well.
Driving notes
Visits start on the hour, so build slack
The estates sit close together but gated, and most visits start on the hour, so build slack rather than speed. The A4 exits at Rovato and Palazzolo bracket the zone coming from Milan or Verona. Parking is inside estate grounds everywhere except Iseo, where the lakefront pay car parks fill by late morning on summer weekends.
Leave the driving out
Do this route with a guide
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Guided along this route
Someone drives the whole itinerary above
Self-guided Wine tour in Franciacorta, Full-Day Experience with Lunch
For wine lovers and wine enthusiasts who are passionate about sparkling wines. For people just in love with Italian food and wine who wish to discover an off-the-beate...
7 hours
From €135
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Viator
Reading the labels you'll pass
The wine country it crosses
Before you ask
Strada del Franciacorta, answered
A Franciacorta style made only from white grapes, mostly Chardonnay, bottled below five atmospheres of pressure for a softer mousse. The lakefront bars in Iseo pour it by the glass.
During the Festival Franciacorta weekend in September, when more than sixty houses open their doors, and the smaller summer festival in June. The rest of the year, book.
In Guido Berlucchi's cellars at Borgonato, where oenologist Franco Ziliani bottled the first three thousand bottles of Pinot di Franciacorta in 1961.
The A4 towards Venice, leaving at Rovato or Palazzolo, which bracket the zone. It is about an hour door to door, which is why the cellars fill with Milanese weekenders.
The still-wine DOC that shares Franciacorta's hills: whites on Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco, reds on Cabernet and Merlot. The name to order when the palate needs a rest from bubbles.
The estates sit five to fifteen minutes apart, but visits are gated and mostly start on the hour, so three booked cellars is a realistic day. The slack in between is what the lakefront at Iseo is for.
More drives in Lombardy
All Lombardy routesHalf day
Strada dei Vini del Garda
The Lake Garda southern shore route, from Sirmione's Lugana flats to the Valtenesi headland and its Chiaretto cellars.
- Sirmione
- Ca' dei Frati
- Costaripa
- Pasini San Giovanni
Take it with you
Save the 3 estates on this road as a trip
They land in a trip named after the route, in drive order. Reorder them, drop one, add a night, before you book anything.
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