June 11, 2025 • 39 mins
In Lombardia, Italy, Villa Franciacorta produces estate grown vintage Franciacorta DOCG sparkling wines and is home to Villa Gradoni Charme & Nature, a renovated 16th century farmhouse and agriturismo. Villa Franciacorta’s evolution is thanks to Alessandro Bianchi, who in 1960 acquired land in the area and made a commitment to restore and renew the region with a focus on the production of sparkling wines. Alessandro’s daughter, Roberta Bianchi with her husband and sons continue his stewardship.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome to the Connected Table. We are Melanie Young and
David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple. We enjoy taking
you around the world with us to all the wonderful
places we visit to taste wine, eat great food, and
meet fascinating people who work front and center and behind
the scenes in wine, foods, and hospitality. We are among
(01:01):
the top twenty food and beverage podcasts in the United States.
We've just learned and you can hear us on more
than sixty five podcast channels and on the Connected Table TV.
Today we are taking you to northern Italy, to the
region of fronch Acorda it's a wine region specifically known
for its metado classico sparkling wines. And we had the
(01:24):
great honor and privilege of visiting a very historic producer,
Villa fronch Acorda, when we were in Italy and April
or May of twenty twenty five. Villa fronch Acorda is
more than a winery. It's like a little village. It's
got so much history thanks to one man's vision, and
we are honored to have his daughter and grandson with us.
(01:48):
We're talking about Roberto Bianci and Matteo Pizzio a Villa
fronch Acorda, and the patriarch was Alessandro Bianci, Roberta's father.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Welcome, thank you. It's a pleasure, the pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So let's talk about location. For me, it was my
first time in French Aquorta. How about you, data It
was mine as well, and we were taken by the
It really is in the foothills of the Italian Alps
with beautiful lakes. Give us a painted picture of it
and what makes it so unique for these beautiful sparkling wines.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
We are in the northern part of Italy. In the
region of Lombardy. We are writ in between of Milan
and Verona, so these are two very beautiful cities that
I think we give the listeners a sense of where
we are. And French Acorta is right between the city
of Britsia, another beautiful region and lake Iszaeo, a lake
(02:52):
very beautiful, but it also contributes to the micro climate
of the region. So the presence of the lake and
the positioning of the area contributes a lot to the
wines thanks to the microclimate and to the soil as well.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
We actually had lunch with you and your father by
the lake right.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
Yes, and a lovely lake side.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
What was the name of the restaurant. It was beautiful,
the best, best fish, So we're curious, Roberta, did your
family have a connection to the Lombardy area before your
father Alexander decided to invest in what really was the
town of Villa.
Speaker 7 (03:39):
Yes, and my family has always been deeply rooted in
the in the region.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
My father.
Speaker 7 (03:47):
Born in Provalio Dizil, only five minutes from here, and
so the land was a real part of his identity.
That's why in the sixty it was only twenty six
years older he felt in love for this old armletter
(04:09):
and he decided to as a vision to invest in it.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
He was able to has a dream and to have
the idea.
Speaker 7 (04:21):
To underline the powerful and possibility of growing this old armletter.
And in that period that the landowners were selling off
the lender, every people investor in economy, in industry, but
(04:43):
not in the lender. So for many people, my father
was a crazy young man and normally he told me, oh,
it was a very strange thing that people invested in land,
but it was a vision. Nowadays we are sure that
it was a very perfect occasion to reborn these old hamlets.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
There.
Speaker 8 (05:10):
Your your father obviously had a vision. What was the
initial vision that he had too that made him decide
he wanted to grow grapes and not invest in the
industry in.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
The area and and in this area because we're picturing
like it was probably fairly decrepit after the wars, and
there was poor and a lot of people left for
the city.
Speaker 7 (05:31):
So why yes, Because my grandfather was a cabin he
works in the I don't know, how can I explain
the Guardia Callo some kind.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Of the Italian police.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Let's right, a very high level of Italian police as well,
very very high level.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
In contact with nature.
Speaker 7 (05:57):
And so probably my father grew up with the sensibility.
So even if he worked in the industry, it was
the owner of an aliodynamic industry. He was the sensibility
to understand the the powerful of the nature and how
this old armletter was in the ancient period a very
(06:20):
beautiful place. So as I told you, as in a dream,
you wanted to restore it and to bring this old
armletter and bring it in the future.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
The imagine is.
Speaker 7 (06:35):
Like a young man that give the hand to an
old manda and help him to.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Grow up great visual and to that effect, Matteo, your
grandfather taught the family that it's important to be custodians
of the land. How is this impacted the little hamlet
of economically.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Yes, well, my grandfather said that.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
He said that we are custodians and not owners, and
this has always been at the heart of everything that
we do. And so in the sixties when he came
here to Villa, this was a town that was in
a very tough crisis actually, and so he decided first
(07:21):
of all to add the people that were living here
and to give them a job and a salary because
at the time they got to have maybe a share
of what they produced, but.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Not a real salary.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
But my grandfather decided to give them one and so
they can start to live in a better way. And
then he decided to restore the town as it was
in the medieval age, so not in order to change
it and make it more modern, but actually restore it
as it was in the past. And so also when
(08:00):
it came to the cellar, when he needed a bigger
sellar for the wines that he started producing, he decided
not to create a big palace outside, but he decided
to create the cellar under the hill, so that this
will protect the image and the town as it is
(08:22):
instead of changing it completely. And so nowadays the medieval
town is restored and we have twenty two apartments, and
so this comes in handy regarding the hospitality that we
offer nowadays you also have.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I mean, just to paint a picture. It really is restored.
These are medieval buildings that have been restored and you
feel like you're going back in time. But there's a
sophisticated wine operation happening underground in the cellars. There's also
a restaurant which we dined at. You've got the self
contained apartments where they have kitchen. Its are beautiful, and
you're the lakes. There's a lot of recreation. So many
(09:02):
of your visitors come either because they are in the
industry and they want to taste the wines and have
a hospitality experience, or their tourists who want to just
maybe reunt a place for a month. Right.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Yes, yes, that's actually the case.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
And indeed what we offer is not just a visit
to the cellar or we are not limited to people
that are really interested in wines, because we are actually
in a very beautiful area. We are lucky to say that,
and we are in a medieval town that is very
beautiful to see, even for people that are not interested
in the wines, because actually passing by, maybe yes you
(09:40):
see the vineyards, but you have the medieval town which
you can stay with your family and just relax maybe
for a week or two.
Speaker 7 (09:47):
Yeah, we are in the middle on the roses of
many interesting cities, so it will be an idea to
stay here, to feel a kind of slow tourism, to relax,
be able to go in the big city like Milan,
Verona in Holy three quarter An hour, So it would
be interesting to stay there, to feel relaxed, go to
(10:09):
restaurant and go to the pool, have a big apartment,
to stay in the nature, not to have the possibility
in only a few hours to go to Venice in
two hours or to Milan.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
So it would be very interesting and.
Speaker 7 (10:26):
To have the possibility to feel our field of production
and to leave the nature.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I wish we had had more time. There were so
many places we wanted to visit, but we will definitely
be back.
Speaker 8 (10:38):
It really is a beautiful area, and that's an area
that we really haven't been to before this one trip,
so we really do want to go back.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
It's amply stunning. Now, let's your grandfather also created the
concertio that really regulates the quality of production and the
regulations for French Akorda. Tell us about that matter.
Speaker 5 (10:57):
Yes, So my grandfather actually came here to this village
in nineteen sixty and then he started studying the soil
around the village to understand which were the most suitable
for producing wines. And so during the process he actually
met other people that were trying to do the same
(11:18):
and then in nineteen sixty seven, French Acorta was recognized
as a DEOC, but only in nineteen ninety so after
twelve years since our first bottle of sparkling wins in
nineteen seventy eight, my grandfather founded the consortium. So they
(11:38):
were twenty nine visionaries, producers that understood the potential of
this area and they came together to create this consortium,
and in nineteen ninety five French Acorta became the first
sparkling wines the USG of Italy. And so is to
(12:00):
prove that there was a real potential and the quality
of the wines.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I think it's important to underscore that while sparkling wines
are made throughout Italy, like sparkling wines are made throughout France,
much like Champagne, which is its own AOP, French Aquorda
is the only sparkling wine DOCG and it is dedicated to,
(12:26):
as we said, metado classical sparkling wine. Now, I was
doing a little research and the most common question asked
about French Acorda is how is it similar or different
to Champagne in terms of the production? Can you answer that.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Yes, it's actually a question that we get a lot.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
Of course, when we say we are a traditional method.
Of course, the last question is yes, so like the
Champagne maybe, And of course the method is quite similar,
is the traditional method as they hate as they produce
the sparkling wines.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
But of course there are many difference.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
First of all, Champagne, of course is in France, and
it's in the north of France, so it's a very
different climate.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
It's much colder.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
And so they get a very strong acidity in their wines,
which sometimes they have to do, for example, malolactic to
try and get the acidity more mildly. For us the
climate is much more different. So as I said, we
(13:36):
are close to lakey Ale. This mitigates the temperature for us.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
So in summer.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
The lake make the climate not too hot, and the
same goes for the winter when it's never too much cold.
And then regarding the grape varieties, we have a shardon
a and pin and wir as they do, but we
have pino blank and a little bit of erbamat while
(14:05):
they have pino monie. And then the minimum the minimum
aging for French akorta is eighteen months and thirty months
for the vintage, while they have a thirty six months
for the vintage wines. But only fifteen for the base wines,
(14:26):
and so these are some of the most important things
to highlight regarding the two different sparkling wines.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
That's a great explanation. Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
One last thing to underline, of course, is that we
are a very small area. So we are just nineteen
municipalities in the province of Prussia, and we produce nearly
twenty million bottles, so something more, while they produce hundreds
of millions of bottles. So of course the mentions of
(15:00):
the two areas are very very different.
Speaker 8 (15:04):
Yeah, and Jiah, you know you talked a little bit
about the lake, the lake effect and the fact that
northern nearly or closer to the Alps tell us about
the microclimate and geology that makes it such a great
area for growing because your your grandfather did a lot
of research, as have many of the producers to figure
out what.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Makes this special. So why don't you give us an.
Speaker 8 (15:26):
Idea of the of the tear war of the soils
and also how it's affected by the Alps.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
Yes, So one important thing is that at the beginning
of the consortium, and even before the producers that were
starting to study the way of producing sparkling wines. First
of all, they decided to do a zoning of the
territory to understand which were the areas that were most
(16:00):
suitable to produce vines. And for example, today we have
one hundred actors, but only forty six are with vines.
This is to give a sense of what I'm saying
about the zoning of the territory. So the microclimate in
French Akorta, as I said, is a very small wine region,
(16:22):
but at the same time it has different soils. So
most of the French Akorta as a glacial moraine soil
because in the past the ice went over the soil
and changed the structure of it. But there are some areas,
for example the one in which Villa French Aqorta is located,
(16:45):
that were protected by the hills. So for example, Villa
as a town is in between two hills and this
protected from the ice going over the soil, and so
we got to keep the marine origins and so this
gives for example, more minerality and sapidity to the wines.
(17:06):
And so we are in the east part of fran
Chacorta with the microclimate that is influenced by the lake
is as I said, And so for example, we have
also a very good excursion, so difference of temperature between
day and night, and this is very important for the
(17:28):
freshness and the aromatic side of the grapes. And yeah,
so the temperature is hot in the summer, but again
the lake mitigates it and in winter we never got
to temperatures too cold. And so this helps also in
(17:50):
the freshness of the grapes.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
That's interesting. And you said, because Champagne is so much
for the north, there's much more acidity and they need
the melal lactic. Let's talk about so some of the wines,
the French or corner wines at Villa French Acorna that
we tasted. We tasted many, I think when we want
to highlight a few that I also have some terms
that are important to know, starting with ROBERTA tell us
(18:15):
about satan. We know it means silky, is it? My
question is we tasted one hundred percent shortened ay satan milismana.
Is it always shorten ay or or blended shortenayse or
is it a blend of other grapes.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Yeah, it's only shodna.
Speaker 7 (18:35):
When you speak about the blind that we create in
in spring, we create a blended from different based wine
from the grapes that came from different that we have
with the shadown, different clone, different roofstocks, so different grapes,
quality of grapes, and so we are able to have
(18:58):
different colors to be able to create a perfect picture
of our satan.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Our months are then.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And it's aged a minimum thirty six months on lease.
Speaker 7 (19:12):
Correct, yes, thirty six months only lise okay, like a silica,
so very delicate, a good perfume, but also a good
structure is very long lasting.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
So another unique, as we call the unique selling point
Villa franchi Acorda, is that all of your sparkling wines
are milismaa, which means vintage versus non vintage. Let's talk
about another term that is important and we learned as
becoming more popular, brute npture or padsage your pado say
(19:44):
we tasted the d amount pado say twenty sixteen. Let's
explain the term and the wine.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
In franchi Acorta, we have different terms to explain how
much of resipo shugar it's there in the bottle.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
So padoze means.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
That there are no added sugar in the wine, and
then you have for example extra brut and brood, and
for extra brut it can go from zero to three
grams per liter, or for brute from zero to six
for example. So we are seeing a trend actually of
(20:26):
going to lower dosage wines. And so for example you
tasted Diamond twenty sixteen. It's a padozze, so it's a
wine that has no added sugar. It's eighty five percent
chardonet and fifteen percent pin no noi. And actually the
(20:47):
for the first six months a part of it goes
in barricks and then we have forty eight months on
the lease. So of course this contributes to the structure
and today importance of the wines which can be very
long lasting.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
And so for.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Us, it's very important to produce WinCE with low sugars
because you can really feel the pureness of the wine
and really taste the importance of our grapes, of our
historical wines.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
And of the wain of the way we harvest and
we select our grapes.
Speaker 7 (21:28):
And sorry also the name Yuman means the pureness, speak
of the pureness of the stone. That's why we choose
this name because the diamond is the best stone, the
pureness stone, and so it is a symbol of this
kind of wine that has no li cure expedition.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
It is pure like a Yamont.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
I really like parusage and others called prof nature. I
just love these wines. And we are getting a lot
more samples sent to us here in the United States.
So we were seeing that it's like the trend toward
lower ABV wines, and everybody's asking about residual sugars. Now
it just seems to be a movement.
Speaker 8 (22:14):
And you you actually made another Paddosage wine, which is
the book in noir rose from from French a quorda,
which is just a delightful rose sparkling wine which is
brute pedgewort as well.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I have a question. So in Champagne, many of the
rose champagnes are only made in certain years. Some of
the major producers only do them in certain vintage years
when they feel that the the grapes are worthy. Let's
talk to us about your You we tasted too French
Acorda bouquet rose brute Miller's Mato twenty twenty. And then,
(22:47):
as David referenced the pad Sage as well, talk to
us about that, and do you make that on a
regular basis or those special couves.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Yes, so, yes, we we do actually three different roses.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
You tasted two.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
So boke is the one we usually do every year.
And actually the point of doing roses every year every
years only for the bouquet, well, for boken War we
only produce it in some particular year.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
But at the same time we get to select which grapes.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
Can go in the rose, because as my mom said,
we have forty six actors divided into twenty six parcels,
and so for example, for pino War, we have nine
different parcels of it, and so we can select which.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
One can go to produce the rose.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
And so when we are vested the grapes, then we
do usually twelve hours of maceration, from which the bouquet
gets this very nice color and actually the this is
why we decided to use this name, because there are
many different roses out there in the market, but usually
(24:08):
you refer to them maybe with the name with the
name salmon.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
To define the color.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
But for us, we wanted to find a name that
was peculiar to our wine, our Bookeet, and so Boke
is the name of a coral from Japan that my
mom found out, and so she said, wow, that's the
color of our roses. And so that's how we decided
this name. And so then when we go to the
(24:37):
buken War, as I said, it's the wine that we
do aally in in some particular years, when we see
the grapes are suitable and for this type of wine.
And then that it became the bukenvir our pase rose.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
They're beautiful and the color I have in my notes coral.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Underscore.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
It was coral colored.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
It really was.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Speaking of parcels, we tasted another your Couvette Blot twenty nineteen.
I have your a single crew and the only one
not made from different parcels is that your only single vineyard.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
The coubat is our crew that is made with shadonny
and pinon noir.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Is the varneyard are on the hill.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
And for me it's a particular and important sparking one
because it was the present that my father created for
my marriage.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Because you want to pair the sparking one.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
During all the bill and to pair with every kind
of different.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Plate and tubete has able.
Speaker 7 (25:55):
We normally use the term is a gastronomic spark wine
because it's able to do to be paired perfectly with
meat with the main curses. Because it's a very important
sparking wine made a part of first fermentation in Barika
(26:17):
to obtain the structure that we need for evolve and
stay many years on the Lisa, for years on the
Lisa for the second fermentation and grow up more and
more to to divent a very.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Important sparking wine. Very so they.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Can go with many many dishes as well.
Speaker 7 (26:43):
Yeah, yeah, that is able to be to be paired
with many different dishes.
Speaker 8 (26:48):
Yes, yeah, almost five and a half years on the
Lisa total, and that's age time, so it becomes a
very savory, beautifully complex wine.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
With that agent, it was just a delightful.
Speaker 7 (26:59):
One at the same good the acidity, so being able
to clean the mouth and to be paired normally with
important plates.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Sarah specific label that you have that you would consider
your every day sparkling wine, the one that you take
to the beach to the picnics of the lake will
be a mosy.
Speaker 7 (27:25):
And I think as the color of the level is
beautiful is white and turquoise, and so remember the sea
that there was here in the Jurassic period. The white
color is the kalaidoscopic color, that is the complex of
color that we remember, the different parcellas because Emosiona represented
(27:47):
the biodiversity of different the different parcellas we have. Every
grapes of each parcellas are inside of these sparking wine.
So for us present not also the history because it's
born in nineteen seventy eight, but also our tradition in
our future, and the is something that represent fast event,
(28:16):
joy moment. I normally say a wine to remember, to
remember special moment.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
I think that was the one we first had. It
was the first wine at our launch, Matteo. We had
the Mozzioni. It's it's it's dominant shortened as a little
bit of pina and one pino Bianco and have notes
thirty six months and Mozioni, which we love the name.
You very generously let us taste some very very special
(28:45):
limited edition couves. I think the one that resonated with
us the most, that we obviously want to acknowledge is
the Reserve and Nobile Alessandro Bianci, which you did in
honor of your father Roberta. It was a special cuve
two thousand and seven. Talk to us about that and
when you created the why behind it, the story behind.
Speaker 7 (29:07):
It, as I told you, my father give me a
present with couvet, and they want to remember my father
give his name to sparking wine, like the name of
the village, not Alessandro Bianki. So I want to give
the name as vintages was in two.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Thousand and four and these vintage is to save and
fift years on the lease. So it see the sparking wine.
Speaker 7 (29:39):
But they think that they want to underline that Matteo
I created a level, and Matteo created a box, a
kind of cellar when the bottle can be preserved like
a seller that you can bring your home and wait
for the evolution of this articular sparking wine.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
So Mattia can explain about this box.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Yeah, just briefly.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
The idea behind it was that a bottle of that
importance with a vintage two thousand and seven and fifteen
years on the lease, needed a box that was not
just a packaging but actually a small cellar in.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Which the wine can evolve on the cork.
Speaker 5 (30:23):
As we always say, it's important to do vintage wines
and have them to stay in years on the lease.
But at the same time it's important the evolution that
the bottle have on the cork after that, and so
it really needed a small cellar black box so that
resemblance of the color that they have in the cellar,
(30:44):
in which the bottle can grow older with you and
really grow on the cork.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
It was beautiful and we'll be posting a photo of
it at the Connected Table website the blog when we
do the article to follow up this conversation, because the
presentations and labels are really quite beautiful. We're curious, Sama,
you lost Alessandro during the COVID nineteen pandemic and what
(31:14):
are you doing additionally this beautiful couve to honor him
and carry on the legacy. What does the future hold
for Villa French Aquorta.
Speaker 5 (31:25):
Yes, so of course the most important thing for us
to honor him is to respect the philosophy that he
teaches us when he was here with us, and so
of course being guardian of the land is something that
we really want to carry on. And so this goes
(31:47):
for example, for the choices that we do in the vineyards,
so conducting the vineyards in an organic way and preserving
the village as it is and keeping it alive like
it was in the medieval age. And so all of
the choices that we do, for example using our own
(32:10):
only our own grapes from our own vineyards, so never
buying wines from other places or grapes because we want
to have the control all the whole production from the
grapes to the final product.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
And also selecting.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
The grapes when we bring when we harvest in the vineyards.
And also the choices in terms of social responsibility and
sustainability that he has always teached us and then my
mum always bring on during the years.
Speaker 7 (32:47):
Also the research on the Easter for us is very important.
We start the research with the Florence University. So the
first fermentation we use only our is that can able
can be able to underline our identity and for us
it's very very important these things. And also to produce
(33:09):
only vintages wine, even if in twenty and seventeen it
was not so simple, but it was an idea to
be honest with our client and to be to be correct,
honest and use the same philosophy. And another adventure that
(33:32):
Villa Franchiacorta want.
Speaker 9 (33:35):
To to toudical to start is our new adventure is
a new.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Situation, that is our new.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
It's a new in which we will have events like
for companies or weddings that we are restoring in the
town where my grandpa was born. It's at three hundred
and fifteen meters above of the sea, and so we
(34:17):
have some olive trees and of course some new Pinon
Noir vineyards, and so the scenery will be amazing from there.
You will get to have a glance at the lake too.
And so he really loved that place. He really loved
the town in which he was born, and so of
course it's another way to honor him.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Yes, it is the place.
Speaker 7 (34:41):
The house is day to the fifteenth century, so it's
very important place with the crew of the Pinon Noir.
Is a kind of small villa franchiscorta for the second
adventure for the events.
Speaker 6 (34:56):
Sounds like it's a place we want to go visit
when it's finished.
Speaker 5 (34:58):
Idea.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Hey, really, this is a beautiful area. I was gobsmacked
when we were going through the tunnels and under the
mountains and driving up it was stunning. So anyone listening
we're talking about the region and the docg of Franchi Acorda.
It's in Lombardia. It's in the foothills of the Italian Alps,
(35:20):
near Lake Isaia. This is a lake I wasn't actually
familiar with. I kept asking David what's that lake because
I didn't have my map. It is a beautiful area,
and how wonderful that you're building another hospitality area to
welcome visitors and industry people alike. That's very exciting, and
you really are caring on the lesson of Alisandra Bianca
(35:44):
that you are not owners, you are custodians of the land.
So congratulations you, thank you. So with all that excitement
and build up, tell us where our listeners and fans
can fine follow and make reservation to visit Villa French Quarta.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
Oh, normally you can go on our website and to
book an apartment or a visitor of our cellar, but
it's not a kind of simple visit. The visit is
very interesting because you are able to feel our philosophy,
(36:23):
to have normally, yes, a dego station, but to go
also to our restaurant, to be able to pair food
and wine, to stay in the pool. Because we have
twenty two apartments, so you can have a kind of
slow tourism to feel relaxed, stay in the pool and
go to the restaurant for a dinner and only by work,
(36:47):
returning your apartment, big apartment, take bicycle, go on the lake,
a famous lake because of the floating piece. In two
thousand and sixty it's still built of this bridge, yellow
brech and all the newspaper all around the world speak
about all the fruit in piers and so Easiola and
(37:08):
became famous and minie castle and monuments you can visit,
and many cities so came.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
In Villa Franchicorta.
Speaker 7 (37:19):
It would be an idea not also to visit something
beautiful but drink and very particular sparking wine.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Well, I like the idea of slow tourism because it
seems like whenever we're in Italy. Well, first of all,
we were there on work trips and they're always very
fast paced, so the idea of a slow trip is
intriguing to us. It is a beautiful place, and the
website is Villafronchiqorta dot it for all of our listeners. Well,
Roberta and Mateo, we've so loved seeing you today and
(37:49):
again are so grateful for your hospitality and a wonderful
visit to Villa french Acorda. The tasting, the stay, the restaurant,
the experience was just except so thank you for opening
your arms and doors to us and to anyone listening
who wants to visit Villa Franciacorta.
Speaker 5 (38:09):
Thank you so much for having us in this beautiful podcast,
and for all the listeners, you're welcome here at Villa Franciscorta.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
That's that wonderful Italian hospitality. So you've been listening to
another edition of The Connected Table, spotlighting our travels, which
recently have been quite a lot to Italy, but we
are equal opportunity. We travel the world because we enjoy
traveling and meeting people and experiencing new places, and we
(38:39):
want to share them with you because we want you
to always stay insatiably curious
Speaker 5 (39:00):
And
The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability,
explicit or implied shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio
or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should
be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome to the Connected Table. We are Melanie Young and
David Ransom. You're insatiably curious culinary couple. We enjoy taking
you around the world with us to all the wonderful
places we visit to taste wine, eat great food, and
meet fascinating people who work front and center and behind
the scenes in wine, foods, and hospitality. We are among
(01:01):
the top twenty food and beverage podcasts in the United States.
We've just learned and you can hear us on more
than sixty five podcast channels and on the Connected Table TV.
Today we are taking you to northern Italy, to the
region of fronch Acorda it's a wine region specifically known
for its metado classico sparkling wines. And we had the
(01:24):
great honor and privilege of visiting a very historic producer,
Villa fronch Acorda, when we were in Italy and April
or May of twenty twenty five. Villa fronch Acorda is
more than a winery. It's like a little village. It's
got so much history thanks to one man's vision, and
we are honored to have his daughter and grandson with us.
(01:48):
We're talking about Roberto Bianci and Matteo Pizzio a Villa
fronch Acorda, and the patriarch was Alessandro Bianci, Roberta's father.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Welcome, thank you. It's a pleasure, the pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So let's talk about location. For me, it was my
first time in French Aquorta. How about you, data It
was mine as well, and we were taken by the
It really is in the foothills of the Italian Alps
with beautiful lakes. Give us a painted picture of it
and what makes it so unique for these beautiful sparkling wines.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
We are in the northern part of Italy. In the
region of Lombardy. We are writ in between of Milan
and Verona, so these are two very beautiful cities that
I think we give the listeners a sense of where
we are. And French Acorta is right between the city
of Britsia, another beautiful region and lake Iszaeo, a lake
(02:52):
very beautiful, but it also contributes to the micro climate
of the region. So the presence of the lake and
the positioning of the area contributes a lot to the
wines thanks to the microclimate and to the soil as well.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
We actually had lunch with you and your father by
the lake right.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
Yes, and a lovely lake side.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
What was the name of the restaurant. It was beautiful,
the best, best fish, So we're curious, Roberta, did your
family have a connection to the Lombardy area before your
father Alexander decided to invest in what really was the
town of Villa.
Speaker 7 (03:39):
Yes, and my family has always been deeply rooted in
the in the region.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
My father.
Speaker 7 (03:47):
Born in Provalio Dizil, only five minutes from here, and
so the land was a real part of his identity.
That's why in the sixty it was only twenty six
years older he felt in love for this old armletter
(04:09):
and he decided to as a vision to invest in it.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
He was able to has a dream and to have
the idea.
Speaker 7 (04:21):
To underline the powerful and possibility of growing this old armletter.
And in that period that the landowners were selling off
the lender, every people investor in economy, in industry, but
(04:43):
not in the lender. So for many people, my father
was a crazy young man and normally he told me, oh,
it was a very strange thing that people invested in land,
but it was a vision. Nowadays we are sure that
it was a very perfect occasion to reborn these old hamlets.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
There.
Speaker 8 (05:10):
Your your father obviously had a vision. What was the
initial vision that he had too that made him decide
he wanted to grow grapes and not invest in the
industry in.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
The area and and in this area because we're picturing
like it was probably fairly decrepit after the wars, and
there was poor and a lot of people left for
the city.
Speaker 7 (05:31):
So why yes, Because my grandfather was a cabin he
works in the I don't know, how can I explain
the Guardia Callo some kind.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
Of the Italian police.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Let's right, a very high level of Italian police as well,
very very high level.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
In contact with nature.
Speaker 7 (05:57):
And so probably my father grew up with the sensibility.
So even if he worked in the industry, it was
the owner of an aliodynamic industry. He was the sensibility
to understand the the powerful of the nature and how
this old armletter was in the ancient period a very
(06:20):
beautiful place. So as I told you, as in a dream,
you wanted to restore it and to bring this old
armletter and bring it in the future.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
The imagine is.
Speaker 7 (06:35):
Like a young man that give the hand to an
old manda and help him to.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Grow up great visual and to that effect, Matteo, your
grandfather taught the family that it's important to be custodians
of the land. How is this impacted the little hamlet
of economically.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Yes, well, my grandfather said that.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
He said that we are custodians and not owners, and
this has always been at the heart of everything that
we do. And so in the sixties when he came
here to Villa, this was a town that was in
a very tough crisis actually, and so he decided first
(07:21):
of all to add the people that were living here
and to give them a job and a salary because
at the time they got to have maybe a share
of what they produced, but.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
Not a real salary.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
But my grandfather decided to give them one and so
they can start to live in a better way. And
then he decided to restore the town as it was
in the medieval age, so not in order to change
it and make it more modern, but actually restore it
as it was in the past. And so also when
(08:00):
it came to the cellar, when he needed a bigger
sellar for the wines that he started producing, he decided
not to create a big palace outside, but he decided
to create the cellar under the hill, so that this
will protect the image and the town as it is
(08:22):
instead of changing it completely. And so nowadays the medieval
town is restored and we have twenty two apartments, and
so this comes in handy regarding the hospitality that we
offer nowadays you also have.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I mean, just to paint a picture. It really is restored.
These are medieval buildings that have been restored and you
feel like you're going back in time. But there's a
sophisticated wine operation happening underground in the cellars. There's also
a restaurant which we dined at. You've got the self
contained apartments where they have kitchen. Its are beautiful, and
you're the lakes. There's a lot of recreation. So many
(09:02):
of your visitors come either because they are in the
industry and they want to taste the wines and have
a hospitality experience, or their tourists who want to just
maybe reunt a place for a month. Right.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
Yes, yes, that's actually the case.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
And indeed what we offer is not just a visit
to the cellar or we are not limited to people
that are really interested in wines, because we are actually
in a very beautiful area. We are lucky to say that,
and we are in a medieval town that is very
beautiful to see, even for people that are not interested
in the wines, because actually passing by, maybe yes you
(09:40):
see the vineyards, but you have the medieval town which
you can stay with your family and just relax maybe
for a week or two.
Speaker 7 (09:47):
Yeah, we are in the middle on the roses of
many interesting cities, so it will be an idea to
stay here, to feel a kind of slow tourism, to relax,
be able to go in the big city like Milan,
Verona in Holy three quarter An hour, So it would
be interesting to stay there, to feel relaxed, go to
(10:09):
restaurant and go to the pool, have a big apartment,
to stay in the nature, not to have the possibility
in only a few hours to go to Venice in
two hours or to Milan.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
So it would be very interesting and.
Speaker 7 (10:26):
To have the possibility to feel our field of production
and to leave the nature.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
I wish we had had more time. There were so
many places we wanted to visit, but we will definitely
be back.
Speaker 8 (10:38):
It really is a beautiful area, and that's an area
that we really haven't been to before this one trip,
so we really do want to go back.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
It's amply stunning. Now, let's your grandfather also created the
concertio that really regulates the quality of production and the
regulations for French Akorda. Tell us about that matter.
Speaker 5 (10:57):
Yes, So my grandfather actually came here to this village
in nineteen sixty and then he started studying the soil
around the village to understand which were the most suitable
for producing wines. And so during the process he actually
met other people that were trying to do the same
(11:18):
and then in nineteen sixty seven, French Acorta was recognized
as a DEOC, but only in nineteen ninety so after
twelve years since our first bottle of sparkling wins in
nineteen seventy eight, my grandfather founded the consortium. So they
(11:38):
were twenty nine visionaries, producers that understood the potential of
this area and they came together to create this consortium,
and in nineteen ninety five French Acorta became the first
sparkling wines the USG of Italy. And so is to
(12:00):
prove that there was a real potential and the quality
of the wines.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
I think it's important to underscore that while sparkling wines
are made throughout Italy, like sparkling wines are made throughout France,
much like Champagne, which is its own AOP, French Aquorda
is the only sparkling wine DOCG and it is dedicated to,
(12:26):
as we said, metado classical sparkling wine. Now, I was
doing a little research and the most common question asked
about French Acorda is how is it similar or different
to Champagne in terms of the production? Can you answer that.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Yes, it's actually a question that we get a lot.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
Of course, when we say we are a traditional method.
Of course, the last question is yes, so like the
Champagne maybe, And of course the method is quite similar,
is the traditional method as they hate as they produce
the sparkling wines.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
But of course there are many difference.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
First of all, Champagne, of course is in France, and
it's in the north of France, so it's a very
different climate.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
It's much colder.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
And so they get a very strong acidity in their wines,
which sometimes they have to do, for example, malolactic to
try and get the acidity more mildly. For us the
climate is much more different. So as I said, we
(13:36):
are close to lakey Ale. This mitigates the temperature for us.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
So in summer.
Speaker 5 (13:43):
The lake make the climate not too hot, and the
same goes for the winter when it's never too much cold.
And then regarding the grape varieties, we have a shardon
a and pin and wir as they do, but we
have pino blank and a little bit of erbamat while
(14:05):
they have pino monie. And then the minimum the minimum
aging for French akorta is eighteen months and thirty months
for the vintage, while they have a thirty six months
for the vintage wines. But only fifteen for the base wines,
(14:26):
and so these are some of the most important things
to highlight regarding the two different sparkling wines.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
That's a great explanation. Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
One last thing to underline, of course, is that we
are a very small area. So we are just nineteen
municipalities in the province of Prussia, and we produce nearly
twenty million bottles, so something more, while they produce hundreds
of millions of bottles. So of course the mentions of
(15:00):
the two areas are very very different.
Speaker 8 (15:04):
Yeah, and Jiah, you know you talked a little bit
about the lake, the lake effect and the fact that
northern nearly or closer to the Alps tell us about
the microclimate and geology that makes it such a great
area for growing because your your grandfather did a lot
of research, as have many of the producers to figure
out what.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Makes this special. So why don't you give us an.
Speaker 8 (15:26):
Idea of the of the tear war of the soils
and also how it's affected by the Alps.
Speaker 5 (15:36):
Yes, So one important thing is that at the beginning
of the consortium, and even before the producers that were
starting to study the way of producing sparkling wines. First
of all, they decided to do a zoning of the
territory to understand which were the areas that were most
(16:00):
suitable to produce vines. And for example, today we have
one hundred actors, but only forty six are with vines.
This is to give a sense of what I'm saying
about the zoning of the territory. So the microclimate in
French Akorta, as I said, is a very small wine region,
(16:22):
but at the same time it has different soils. So
most of the French Akorta as a glacial moraine soil
because in the past the ice went over the soil
and changed the structure of it. But there are some areas,
for example the one in which Villa French Aqorta is located,
(16:45):
that were protected by the hills. So for example, Villa
as a town is in between two hills and this
protected from the ice going over the soil, and so
we got to keep the marine origins and so this
gives for example, more minerality and sapidity to the wines.
(17:06):
And so we are in the east part of fran
Chacorta with the microclimate that is influenced by the lake
is as I said, And so for example, we have
also a very good excursion, so difference of temperature between
day and night, and this is very important for the
(17:28):
freshness and the aromatic side of the grapes. And yeah,
so the temperature is hot in the summer, but again
the lake mitigates it and in winter we never got
to temperatures too cold. And so this helps also in
(17:50):
the freshness of the grapes.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
That's interesting. And you said, because Champagne is so much
for the north, there's much more acidity and they need
the melal lactic. Let's talk about so some of the wines,
the French or corner wines at Villa French Acorna that
we tasted. We tasted many, I think when we want
to highlight a few that I also have some terms
that are important to know, starting with ROBERTA tell us
(18:15):
about satan. We know it means silky, is it? My
question is we tasted one hundred percent shortened ay satan milismana.
Is it always shorten ay or or blended shortenayse or
is it a blend of other grapes.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Yeah, it's only shodna.
Speaker 7 (18:35):
When you speak about the blind that we create in
in spring, we create a blended from different based wine
from the grapes that came from different that we have
with the shadown, different clone, different roofstocks, so different grapes,
quality of grapes, and so we are able to have
(18:58):
different colors to be able to create a perfect picture
of our satan.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Our months are then.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And it's aged a minimum thirty six months on lease.
Speaker 7 (19:12):
Correct, yes, thirty six months only lise okay, like a silica,
so very delicate, a good perfume, but also a good
structure is very long lasting.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
So another unique, as we call the unique selling point
Villa franchi Acorda, is that all of your sparkling wines
are milismaa, which means vintage versus non vintage. Let's talk
about another term that is important and we learned as
becoming more popular, brute npture or padsage your pado say
(19:44):
we tasted the d amount pado say twenty sixteen. Let's
explain the term and the wine.
Speaker 5 (19:52):
In franchi Acorta, we have different terms to explain how
much of resipo shugar it's there in the bottle.
Speaker 4 (20:02):
So padoze means.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
That there are no added sugar in the wine, and
then you have for example extra brut and brood, and
for extra brut it can go from zero to three
grams per liter, or for brute from zero to six
for example. So we are seeing a trend actually of
(20:26):
going to lower dosage wines. And so for example you
tasted Diamond twenty sixteen. It's a padozze, so it's a
wine that has no added sugar. It's eighty five percent
chardonet and fifteen percent pin no noi. And actually the
(20:47):
for the first six months a part of it goes
in barricks and then we have forty eight months on
the lease. So of course this contributes to the structure
and today importance of the wines which can be very
long lasting.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
And so for.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Us, it's very important to produce WinCE with low sugars
because you can really feel the pureness of the wine
and really taste the importance of our grapes, of our
historical wines.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
And of the wain of the way we harvest and
we select our grapes.
Speaker 7 (21:28):
And sorry also the name Yuman means the pureness, speak
of the pureness of the stone. That's why we choose
this name because the diamond is the best stone, the
pureness stone, and so it is a symbol of this
kind of wine that has no li cure expedition.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
It is pure like a Yamont.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
I really like parusage and others called prof nature. I
just love these wines. And we are getting a lot
more samples sent to us here in the United States.
So we were seeing that it's like the trend toward
lower ABV wines, and everybody's asking about residual sugars. Now
it just seems to be a movement.
Speaker 8 (22:14):
And you you actually made another Paddosage wine, which is
the book in noir rose from from French a quorda,
which is just a delightful rose sparkling wine which is
brute pedgewort as well.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I have a question. So in Champagne, many of the
rose champagnes are only made in certain years. Some of
the major producers only do them in certain vintage years
when they feel that the the grapes are worthy. Let's
talk to us about your You we tasted too French
Acorda bouquet rose brute Miller's Mato twenty twenty. And then,
(22:47):
as David referenced the pad Sage as well, talk to
us about that, and do you make that on a
regular basis or those special couves.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Yes, so, yes, we we do actually three different roses.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
You tasted two.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
So boke is the one we usually do every year.
And actually the point of doing roses every year every
years only for the bouquet, well, for boken War we
only produce it in some particular year.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
But at the same time we get to select which grapes.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
Can go in the rose, because as my mom said,
we have forty six actors divided into twenty six parcels,
and so for example, for pino War, we have nine
different parcels of it, and so we can select which.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
One can go to produce the rose.
Speaker 5 (23:46):
And so when we are vested the grapes, then we
do usually twelve hours of maceration, from which the bouquet
gets this very nice color and actually the this is
why we decided to use this name, because there are
many different roses out there in the market, but usually
(24:08):
you refer to them maybe with the name with the
name salmon.
Speaker 4 (24:12):
To define the color.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
But for us, we wanted to find a name that
was peculiar to our wine, our Bookeet, and so Boke
is the name of a coral from Japan that my
mom found out, and so she said, wow, that's the
color of our roses. And so that's how we decided
this name. And so then when we go to the
(24:37):
buken War, as I said, it's the wine that we
do aally in in some particular years, when we see
the grapes are suitable and for this type of wine.
And then that it became the bukenvir our pase rose.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
They're beautiful and the color I have in my notes coral.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Underscore.
Speaker 6 (25:03):
It was coral colored.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
It really was.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Speaking of parcels, we tasted another your Couvette Blot twenty nineteen.
I have your a single crew and the only one
not made from different parcels is that your only single vineyard.
Speaker 7 (25:23):
The coubat is our crew that is made with shadonny
and pinon noir.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Is the varneyard are on the hill.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
And for me it's a particular and important sparking one
because it was the present that my father created for
my marriage.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Because you want to pair the sparking one.
Speaker 7 (25:43):
During all the bill and to pair with every kind
of different.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
Plate and tubete has able.
Speaker 7 (25:55):
We normally use the term is a gastronomic spark wine
because it's able to do to be paired perfectly with
meat with the main curses. Because it's a very important
sparking wine made a part of first fermentation in Barika
(26:17):
to obtain the structure that we need for evolve and
stay many years on the Lisa, for years on the
Lisa for the second fermentation and grow up more and
more to to divent a very.
Speaker 3 (26:37):
Important sparking wine. Very so they.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Can go with many many dishes as well.
Speaker 7 (26:43):
Yeah, yeah, that is able to be to be paired
with many different dishes.
Speaker 8 (26:48):
Yes, yeah, almost five and a half years on the
Lisa total, and that's age time, so it becomes a
very savory, beautifully complex wine.
Speaker 6 (26:56):
With that agent, it was just a delightful.
Speaker 7 (26:59):
One at the same good the acidity, so being able
to clean the mouth and to be paired normally with
important plates.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Sarah specific label that you have that you would consider
your every day sparkling wine, the one that you take
to the beach to the picnics of the lake will
be a mosy.
Speaker 7 (27:25):
And I think as the color of the level is
beautiful is white and turquoise, and so remember the sea
that there was here in the Jurassic period. The white
color is the kalaidoscopic color, that is the complex of
color that we remember, the different parcellas because Emosiona represented
(27:47):
the biodiversity of different the different parcellas we have. Every
grapes of each parcellas are inside of these sparking wine.
So for us present not also the history because it's
born in nineteen seventy eight, but also our tradition in
our future, and the is something that represent fast event,
(28:16):
joy moment. I normally say a wine to remember, to
remember special moment.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
I think that was the one we first had. It
was the first wine at our launch, Matteo. We had
the Mozzioni. It's it's it's dominant shortened as a little
bit of pina and one pino Bianco and have notes
thirty six months and Mozioni, which we love the name.
You very generously let us taste some very very special
(28:45):
limited edition couves. I think the one that resonated with
us the most, that we obviously want to acknowledge is
the Reserve and Nobile Alessandro Bianci, which you did in
honor of your father Roberta. It was a special cuve
two thousand and seven. Talk to us about that and
when you created the why behind it, the story behind.
Speaker 7 (29:07):
It, as I told you, my father give me a
present with couvet, and they want to remember my father
give his name to sparking wine, like the name of
the village, not Alessandro Bianki. So I want to give
the name as vintages was in two.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
Thousand and four and these vintage is to save and
fift years on the lease. So it see the sparking wine.
Speaker 7 (29:39):
But they think that they want to underline that Matteo
I created a level, and Matteo created a box, a
kind of cellar when the bottle can be preserved like
a seller that you can bring your home and wait
for the evolution of this articular sparking wine.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
So Mattia can explain about this box.
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Yeah, just briefly.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
The idea behind it was that a bottle of that
importance with a vintage two thousand and seven and fifteen
years on the lease, needed a box that was not
just a packaging but actually a small cellar in.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Which the wine can evolve on the cork.
Speaker 5 (30:23):
As we always say, it's important to do vintage wines
and have them to stay in years on the lease.
But at the same time it's important the evolution that
the bottle have on the cork after that, and so
it really needed a small cellar black box so that
resemblance of the color that they have in the cellar,
(30:44):
in which the bottle can grow older with you and
really grow on the cork.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
It was beautiful and we'll be posting a photo of
it at the Connected Table website the blog when we
do the article to follow up this conversation, because the
presentations and labels are really quite beautiful. We're curious, Sama,
you lost Alessandro during the COVID nineteen pandemic and what
(31:14):
are you doing additionally this beautiful couve to honor him
and carry on the legacy. What does the future hold
for Villa French Aquorta.
Speaker 5 (31:25):
Yes, so of course the most important thing for us
to honor him is to respect the philosophy that he
teaches us when he was here with us, and so
of course being guardian of the land is something that
we really want to carry on. And so this goes
(31:47):
for example, for the choices that we do in the vineyards,
so conducting the vineyards in an organic way and preserving
the village as it is and keeping it alive like
it was in the medieval age. And so all of
the choices that we do, for example using our own
(32:10):
only our own grapes from our own vineyards, so never
buying wines from other places or grapes because we want
to have the control all the whole production from the
grapes to the final product.
Speaker 4 (32:25):
And also selecting.
Speaker 5 (32:27):
The grapes when we bring when we harvest in the vineyards.
And also the choices in terms of social responsibility and
sustainability that he has always teached us and then my
mum always bring on during the years.
Speaker 7 (32:47):
Also the research on the Easter for us is very important.
We start the research with the Florence University. So the
first fermentation we use only our is that can able
can be able to underline our identity and for us
it's very very important these things. And also to produce
(33:09):
only vintages wine, even if in twenty and seventeen it
was not so simple, but it was an idea to
be honest with our client and to be to be correct,
honest and use the same philosophy. And another adventure that
(33:32):
Villa Franchiacorta want.
Speaker 9 (33:35):
To to toudical to start is our new adventure is
a new.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Situation, that is our new.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
It's a new in which we will have events like
for companies or weddings that we are restoring in the
town where my grandpa was born. It's at three hundred
and fifteen meters above of the sea, and so we
(34:17):
have some olive trees and of course some new Pinon
Noir vineyards, and so the scenery will be amazing from there.
You will get to have a glance at the lake too.
And so he really loved that place. He really loved
the town in which he was born, and so of
course it's another way to honor him.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
Yes, it is the place.
Speaker 7 (34:41):
The house is day to the fifteenth century, so it's
very important place with the crew of the Pinon Noir.
Is a kind of small villa franchiscorta for the second
adventure for the events.
Speaker 6 (34:56):
Sounds like it's a place we want to go visit
when it's finished.
Speaker 5 (34:58):
Idea.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Hey, really, this is a beautiful area. I was gobsmacked
when we were going through the tunnels and under the
mountains and driving up it was stunning. So anyone listening
we're talking about the region and the docg of Franchi Acorda.
It's in Lombardia. It's in the foothills of the Italian Alps,
(35:20):
near Lake Isaia. This is a lake I wasn't actually
familiar with. I kept asking David what's that lake because
I didn't have my map. It is a beautiful area,
and how wonderful that you're building another hospitality area to
welcome visitors and industry people alike. That's very exciting, and
you really are caring on the lesson of Alisandra Bianca
(35:44):
that you are not owners, you are custodians of the land.
So congratulations you, thank you. So with all that excitement
and build up, tell us where our listeners and fans
can fine follow and make reservation to visit Villa French Quarta.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
Oh, normally you can go on our website and to
book an apartment or a visitor of our cellar, but
it's not a kind of simple visit. The visit is
very interesting because you are able to feel our philosophy,
(36:23):
to have normally, yes, a dego station, but to go
also to our restaurant, to be able to pair food
and wine, to stay in the pool. Because we have
twenty two apartments, so you can have a kind of
slow tourism to feel relaxed, stay in the pool and
go to the restaurant for a dinner and only by work,
(36:47):
returning your apartment, big apartment, take bicycle, go on the lake,
a famous lake because of the floating piece. In two
thousand and sixty it's still built of this bridge, yellow
brech and all the newspaper all around the world speak
about all the fruit in piers and so Easiola and
(37:08):
became famous and minie castle and monuments you can visit,
and many cities so came.
Speaker 3 (37:18):
In Villa Franchicorta.
Speaker 7 (37:19):
It would be an idea not also to visit something
beautiful but drink and very particular sparking wine.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Well, I like the idea of slow tourism because it
seems like whenever we're in Italy. Well, first of all,
we were there on work trips and they're always very
fast paced, so the idea of a slow trip is
intriguing to us. It is a beautiful place, and the
website is Villafronchiqorta dot it for all of our listeners. Well,
Roberta and Mateo, we've so loved seeing you today and
(37:49):
again are so grateful for your hospitality and a wonderful
visit to Villa french Acorda. The tasting, the stay, the restaurant,
the experience was just except so thank you for opening
your arms and doors to us and to anyone listening
who wants to visit Villa Franciacorta.
Speaker 5 (38:09):
Thank you so much for having us in this beautiful podcast,
and for all the listeners, you're welcome here at Villa Franciscorta.
Speaker 2 (38:18):
That's that wonderful Italian hospitality. So you've been listening to
another edition of The Connected Table, spotlighting our travels, which
recently have been quite a lot to Italy, but we
are equal opportunity. We travel the world because we enjoy
traveling and meeting people and experiencing new places, and we
(38:39):
want to share them with you because we want you
to always stay insatiably curious
Speaker 5 (39:00):
And
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