Wine route
Strada del Franciacorta
1 day · 6 stops
Open the driveLombardy · DOCG
Franciacorta DOCG Lombardy Classic Method Sparkling Wine from Lake Iseo
Franciacorta is Lombardy's metodo classico DOCG. The vines grow on the morainic hills south of Lake Iseo. Chardonnay leads most blends, with Pinot Nero, Pinot Bianco and a measured role for Erbamat. Expect a fine mousse, with citrus, white peach, almond and bready notes from the yeast. Saten, Rose, Millesimato and Riserva add the range.
252
Wines live now
£12-£743
Price range today
18
UK retailers
Decode the label
What the label tells you
One denomination, 5 things it can say on the front. Colour first, then the qualifier.
On the label
Franciacorta
the base bottle, never called spumante
18 months on the lees before disgorgement
11.5% minimum alcohol
Chardonnay and Pinot Nero refermented in this bottle: baked apple, hazelnut and a fine bead. The dosage word (Brut, Extra Brut, Dosaggio Zero) is a sweetness label, not a tier.
In stock from £11.95 See the 101 bottles ↓On the label
Franciacorta Satèn
the silk cuvée
50% or more Chardonnay, with Pinot Bianco
24 months on the lees
No Pinot Nero and a gentler pressure: the softest, creamiest wine in the family, always Brut.
In stock from £22.10 See the 29 bottles ↓On the label
Franciacorta Rosé
Pinot Nero's turn
35% or more Pinot Nero
24 months on the lees
Onion-skin pink from the zone's red grape: red berries over the same bready lees notes.
In stock from £22 See the 35 bottles ↓On the label
Millesimato
one harvest in the bottle
30 months on the lees
85% or more from the stated year
A vintage on a Franciacorta label is a commitment: nearly all of the wine must come from that year.
In stock from £22 See the 39 bottles ↓On the label
Riserva
five years in the dark
60 months on the lees, minimum
Always vintage-dated a millesimato held longer
Toast, dried fruit and depth in place of primary freshness: the tier that argues with Champagne.
In stock from £35 See the 19 bottles ↓The boundary
Where it is
Everything on this page, the estates, the bottles, the sub-zones, sits inside this line.
Estate 1
Guido Berlucchi
Visit →Corte Franca · Borgonato
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 2
Azienda Agricola Bellavista
Visit →Erbusco · The central hills
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 3
Azienda Agricola Barone Pizzini
Visit →Provaglio d'Iseo
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 4
Azienda Agricola Il Mosnel
Visit →Passirano · Camignone
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Franciacorta DOCG zone
Estates you can visit Wine route in the zoneOutside the zone
An amphitheatre of glacial hills between the southern shore of Lake Iseo and the plain of Brescia: the whole territory of fourteen communes, Paratico and Capriolo on the Oglio, Adro, Erbusco and Corte Franca at the centre, east through Passirano and Gussago to the edge of Brescia itself, plus a strip of four more communes north of the old state roads. The moraine left by the Ice Age glacier is the whole point: poor, stony, free-draining ground that ripens Chardonnay and Pinot Nero with the tension bottle fermentation needs.
Inside the zone
19
Communes
18
Months on the lees, minimum
10 t/ha
Maximum yield
1991
The F merlata mark
Click or tap a pin for its estate. The numbered pins match the estate cards below.
Towns worth knowing
Erbusco
Adro
Corte Franca
Iseo
Passirano
Cellatica and Gussago carry the zone to Brescia's doorstep; the crenellated F has been the producers' shared mark since 1991.
In the glass
What it tastes like
Toasted bread
Brioche
Citrusy fruit
Green Apple
White peach
Pear
Almond
Hazelnuts
The disciplinare
The rules that define it
The same table on every denomination page, one row group per style here, because Franciacorta writes its rules per colour.
Grape & its role
Share of the blend
050100%
Franciacorta & Millesimato
Chardonnay and/or Pinot NeroThe core, alone or togetherup to 100%
Pinot BiancoThe traditional supporting whiteup to 50%ErbamatOld local white, kept for its acidityup to 10%
Satèn No Pinot NeroSatèn may use only white grapes: at least half Chardonnay, the rest Pinot Bianco. The absence of Pinot Nero and a lower bottle pressure give the style its softness.
ChardonnayThe leadat least 50%Pinot BiancoFills the balanceup to 50%
Rosé
Pinot NeroThe colour and the spineat least 35%ChardonnayFreshness and finesseup to 65%Pinot BiancoPermitted supporting whiteup to 50%ErbamatPermitted, for acidityup to 10%Solid means the rules demand it. Striped means optional, up to that amount. The words on the right say the same rule.
The word spumante is banned from the label and so is metodo classico: the name Franciacorta is meant to say it all.
18 months on the lees before disgorgement Satèn and Rosé wait 24, millesimato 30, Riserva 60.
No crus, by law geographic mentions and vineyard names are forbidden on Franciacorta labels.
Erbamat is the quiet newcomer an old local white allowed up to 10% of the blend for its acidity.
Tirage may start only from 1 February after the harvest, and yields stop at 10 tonnes per hectare.
Ageing and alcohol minimums per tier are in the label guide above.
Editor's cellar
Bottles to try, and what Franciacorta costs in the UK
Every live Franciacorta listing, cheapest to dearest
223 wines · 18 retailers
By style, today
Base
from £11.95
Riserva
from £35
Live prices, compared across 18 UK retailers.
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Cellar doors · inside the zone
Estates you can visit
4 working estates with their gates open, numbered to match their pins on the map above.
Only show
No estates match these filters. Clear a filter to see more.
The years
Franciacorta vintages, 2011-2023
Chart ratings come from the Consorzio Franciacorta harvest history. Rows from 2011 to 2018 use the Consorzio numeric vintage or qualitative assessment, with half scores rounded conventionally. Rows from 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 are skill-scored from the Consorzio denomination-specific harvest narrative because the public page lists recent numeric ratings as quantitative rather than quality ratings. 2024 and 2022 are skipped until a clear quality assessment is published.
2011
Consorzio vintage assessment 5; excellent ba…
2012
Consorzio vintage assessment 4; low producti…
2013
Consorzio vintage assessment 4; slow ripenin…
2014
Consorzio vintage assessment 3.5, rounded to…
2015
Consorzio vintage assessment 3.5, rounded to…
2016
Consorzio qualitative score 4.5, rounded to …
2017
Severe spring frost cut quantity; surviving …
2018
Wet early summer, then settled heat; Consorz…
2019
Complicated season with cold, wet flowering …
2020
Regular season, dry and ventilated July, ide…
2021
Frost and hail reduced volume, but quality w…
2023
High acidity and very good pH; Consorzio cal…
Reading the years
2011
Exceptional · 5/5
Consorzio vintage assessment 5; excellent base wines from slow ripening and cool nights.
The short version: Mostly a blend across years by design: when a year is on the label, 2016 and 2020 lead.
Tap a year for its note.
How Franciacorta is made
Franciacorta DOCG gets its bubbles from a natural second fermentation in the bottle, not in a tank. Chardonnay and Pinot Nero are the core base grapes. Pinot Bianco is permitted up to 50 percent and Erbamat up to 10 percent. Franciacorta's consortium rules set the steps. Growers must pick by hand and press gently. The blend is put together after the first fermentation. Yeast and sugar then go into the bottle for the second one. The wine rests on the spent yeast, and only later is that yeast removed. The minimum time on the lees is 18 months for Franciacorta. Rose and Saten need 24 months, Millesimato 30 months and Riserva 60 months. The base Franciacorta category has a minimum alcohol of 11.5 percent. It must also keep at least 5 grams per litre of total acidity.
In depth
Franciacorta's modern identity is young, but the wine culture of the area is not. The consortium traces the name to the medieval Francae Curtes, the tax-exempt monastic lands around Brescia. It also notes that Girolamo Conforti wrote about lively, naturally sparkling local wines in 1570. The turning point for the present DOCG came in 1961. That was when Franco Ziliani and Guido Berlucchi produced the first modern bottle of Franciacorta. DOC recognition followed in 1967, and DOCG status arrived in 1995. Franciacorta is now a benchmark Italian denomination for sparkling wine refermented in the bottle.
The vineyards sit in a morainic amphitheatre south of Lake Iseo. Glacial soils, sand, silt and scattered stones give drainage and freshness. Lake breezes moderate the continental climate. That helps Chardonnay hold its acidity, while Pinot Nero brings structure, above all in Rose, Millesimato and Riserva. Pinot Bianco remains a minor but useful blending grape. Erbamat was added to protect freshness and local identity as the climate warms.
Saten shows the softer side of the denomination, through white grapes and lower pressure. Rose leans on Pinot Nero for colour and savoury tension. Berlucchi, Ca' del Bosco and Bellavista anchor the modern reputation. Read Franciacorta as a territory first: a Lombardy DOCG where method, place and bottle ageing are inseparable.
On the table
What to eat with Franciacorta
The home country leads; global pairings that genuinely work follow.
In-depth guide
Franciacorta, answered
It is Lombardy's bottle-fermented sparkling wine, from the hills south of Lake Iseo. It is made mainly from Chardonnay and Pinot Nero. Pinot Bianco and Erbamat are permitted in limited proportions.
No. Franciacorta is made by second fermentation in the bottle. Prosecco DOC is normally made by the Martinotti tank method. That gives Franciacorta more bread, almond and citrus detail. Those notes come from ageing on the yeast.
Franciacorta uses Chardonnay and/or Pinot Nero. Pinot Bianco is allowed up to 50 percent, and Erbamat up to 10 percent. Saten is the white-grape exception. It is based on Chardonnay, with Pinot Bianco allowed.
Standard Franciacorta spends at least 18 months on the lees. Rose and Saten require 24 months, Millesimato requires 30 months, and Riserva requires 60 months.
Franciacorta is usually fresh, savoury and finely sparkling. Expect citrus, white peach, apple, almond, hazelnut, bread crust and yeast notes from bottle ageing.
Franciacorta works across the meal. Lake Iseo fish, shellfish, salumi, fresh cheeses, medium-aged cheeses, polenta with Bagoss and richer Lombardy dishes all suit different sweetness levels.
Explore more Lombardy
Same region only: the denominations Franciacorta drinkers reach for next.
