A great Franciacorta is the Sparkling of the Year according by Gambero Rosso

Best bubbly of the Year according to the Gambero Rosso’s guide Vini d'Italia 2024

This year's Bollicina dell’Anno award (Sparkling of the Year award) takes us to Erbusco - one of Franciacorta's most prized vocational units - and plastically represents a fair number of topical issues. In the meantime, it is a Dosaggio Zero, a trend we find increasingly strong in both the bubbles beyond the Alps and in our great Metodo Classico territories. This is a Millesimo 2016, a vintage that also continues to write important pages on the bubbly side in terms of freshness and vibrant character, a figure that we find enhanced in a register of extraordinary cleanliness and aromatic definition, we find technical mastery but also gustatory complexity. In short, we propose a great example of Franciacorta, contemporary in style and proposed, among other things, at a more than reasonable price by the Gatti family that produces it. With these preconditions we can play it with a straight face even in the Champions League.

BOLLICINA DELL'ANNO

Score: 97/100
Franciacorta Millesimo Nature 2016 – Gatti

Since 1986, the Gatti family has been enhancing the grapes of Franciacorta to produce cuvées that are highly appreciated among Metodo Classico lovers. Lorenzo and Paola Gatti, with Paola's husband, Enzo Balzarini, tend more than 20 hectares in organic farming. The house style is characterized by a distinct aromatic fragrance, cleanliness and drinkability. We were bewitched by the Franciacorta Nature '16 (chardonnay with a balance of pinot noir), the fruit of a great vintage for the Lombardy district. It opens on fine and very fresh aromas of citrus peel and white peach; the mouth gives a jolt of flavor, the development is vertical thanks to a crisp acidity, slightly smoky and toasted hints, and flint, enrich the aromatic picture. The finish is pure, multifaceted and very long.