The name “Franciacorta” comes from ancient times, from Latin “franchae curtes”, which means “exempted from paying duties. It is an Italian hilly area between the city of Brescia and the south part of Iseo lake in Lombardy in northern Italy.

Nowadays the Franciacorta area, where the Franciacorta wines are made, is composed of 19 municipality:

Adro, Capriolo, Castegnato, Cazzago San Martino, Cellatica, Coccaglio, Cologne, Corte Franca, Erbusco, Gussago, Iseo, Monticelli Brusati, Ome, Paderno, Franciacorta, Paratico, Passirano, Provaglio d’Iseo, Rodengo-Saiano e Rovato.

Franciacorta is an Italian sparkling wine, produced within the above-mentioned municipalities and made using the “metodo classico”. Metodo classico (traditional method) is a wine making method to produce sparkling wines where the 2nd fermentation takes place into the bottle (it is the same wine making process as for Champagne).

The origin of wine making in this area goes back to prehistoric times. The modern production of wines started in the 70s with the birth of the first wineries and with the recognition of the denomination Franciacorta DOC along with the approval of the specifications (Il Disciplinare) that rule the DOC mark. Il Disciplinare is a document written and shared by all the producers of Franciacorta containing the rules that a winemaker has to follow to produce Franciacorta. These rules include: the area where it is permitted to produce it, grapes allowed, wine making processes, operations in the vineyard, yield, packaging, maturation of wines and so on…

At the end of the 70s, Italian oenology experienced a phase of expansion and several entrepreneurs decided to invest in Franciacorta. Many cellars started the production and some of them are still producing.

Franciacorta Consortium has been created on May the 5th 1990 at Corte Franca, with the goal of guaranteeing and supervising the respect of the wine making specifications.

In 1997 the first bottles of the denomination Franciacorta DOCG have been produced: this new denomination improves the quality and guarantees the respect of the rules of the Disciplinare.

Alongside with prosecco (an Italian sparkling wine made with the Charmat method), Franciacorta is the 2nd sold Italian sparkling and is becoming more and more popular within wine enthusiastic.

Nowadays, Franciacorta is experiencing a worldwide boom: from USA to Australia, from Norway to South Africa. Wines are requested everywhere and, thanks to its intrinsic qualities, Franciacorta is being considered as one of the top Italian wine.