Description
SoloUva Franciacorta Brut 2018
Andrea Rudelli, Domenico “Nico” Danesi, and Giovanni Arcari call it Solo Uva (just grapes): they freeze and reserve some of the grape must after pressing and then they use it as the sugar in both the tirage (i.e., the addition of sugar and yeast to the base wine in order to provoke the second fermentation) and the dosage (i.e., the addition of sugar before bottling to achieve the desired balance of acidity and sweetness).
The resulting wines have no cane sugar added to them (the traditional practice for classic method and Champagne method wines).
But the thing that really sets the wine apart as a new category of classic method Franciacorta is the fact that they allow the grapes to achieve full phenolic ripeness before harvesting. Where some sparkling winemakers pick early in order to obtain higher acidity (notably in Champagne and also in Franciacorta), this trio of winemakers lets the grapes ripen fully. As a result, the wines have a markedly rich (and arguably richer) fruit profile and a more vinous quality.
