Winemaker Claudio Faccoli's family was instrumental in getting the Franciacorta appellation onto the map. Faccoli is small by Franciacorta standards (5 ha) and own prime vineyards of old pergola vines (40 yr+). It was aged in bottle on the lees for 24 months and if you're into blind-tasting, this will undoubtedly be taken as a fine Champagne. Full of minerals, citrus fruits, flowers and will clearly age for years to come in bottle.
In a way, the branding of Franciacorta has doomed it to always be held against a Champagne standard that it will never meet. Franciacorta makes sparkling wines in the style of Champagne, with the same grapes and winemaking techniques, but from a very different terroir. In simplistic terms, Champagne is a lot colder than Lombardy, with vastly different soils, making Champagne a lot more zippy and restrained than Franciacorta. But, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, I adore the white and yellow fruits I get on Franciacorta (yes, even on this extra brut). I love that I can taste elderflower and peach along with those tiny Italian cookies they give you with coffee at tiny cafes in Milan. And don’t even get me started on the acid – like the ripest lemon you've ever had. This wine is seriously suave. Take one sip and you'll see what I mean.
Home to lighter-bodied renditions of Nebbiolo from the villages of Grumello and Sassella, Lombardy produces the unique interpretations of Nebbiolo called Sfursat (or Sforzato). With these wines, the mountain-grown Nebbiolo grapes are dried for several months in the Amarone style, yielding reds of extraordinary depth and very pronounced aromas of red flowers and crystallized red fruit. While...
The Burgundy region of northeastern France is the historic home of the Pinot Noir grape, and is the source of the world’s greatest examples. Here one finds renditions of Pinot Noir that deliver power with finesse and grace, wines that have unimaginable depth of flavor, yet are perfectly balanced and ephemeral in the mouth - in short, wines that deliver all that Pinot Noir has to offer. Terroir,...
From Champagne to Chablis, it's hard (not to mention unpleasant) to avoid this famous white variety. During a huge popularity surge beginning in the late 1980s, Chardonnay plantings have increased dramatically -- not only in California's wine country, with which the variety is nearly synonymous, but also in Burgundy (its original, Old World home) and just about everywhere else in the winemaking...
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Astor Wines & Spirits 399 Lafayette St. New York, NY 10003
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