Ferghettina Franciacorta Milledi Brut DOCG

The Gatti family manage 120 hectares of vineyards in six localities within the DOC. Milledi is produced solely from Chardonnay. The grapes are softly pressed with a pneumatic press, and only the first pressed juice is used. The primary alcoholic fermentation takes place in stainless steel at 16-18ºC. The grapes from each vineyard plot are vinified separately and kept apart until the spring following harvest, when after careful tasting the assemblage is decided. Secondary fermentation is in bottle, and the wine spends 36 months on its lees.

Italian sparkling wine is not all about Prosecco, as leading Franciacorta producer Ferghettina has proved time and time again.

Ferghettina is a family winery – established in 1991 by Roberto Gatti, and run with his wife Andreina, and their children Laura and Matteo. Starting with just 3-4ha of vineyard and a small production of Franciacorta Brut, Ferghettina has now grown to become one of the finest Franciacorta wineries.

Situated in the southern half of Lombardy – on the edge of the town of Adro, just south of Lake Iseo – the majority of plantings are Chardonnay (approx. 70%) along with Pinot Noir (and just 4ha Pinot Blanc for their still wines). They now have 200ha of vineyard across 11 different villages, mostly at 250-300m altitude. Each vineyard confers a unique character on the resulting base wine, giving Roberto a broad spectrum of styles to blend for each cuveé. It is this skilful blending, meticulous attention to detail and long bottle maturation that give Ferghettina’s wines great finesse and individuality.

Ferghettina are now in the process of organic conversion.

Matteo designed the eye-catching, square-based bottle used for Milledi and Rosé Brut. First used for the 2007 vintage (released in 2011) – the triangular, flattened sides provide a surface area around two and a half times greater than that of a standard bottle, giving more lees to wine contact and therefore greater complexity.