Ferghettina, Laura Gatti

" Do we still have to present Ferghettina, an exceptional producer in Franciacorta, the area equivalent to Champagne in Italy? Ferghettina is a bit like the Veuve Clicquot or better, the Pol Roger of the Franciacorta.

Laura Gatti, the owner and oenologist by training, does a job of absolute perfection here. The recognition of her talent is also general since each year, Le Gambero Rosso awards her "3 bicchieri" and, once again, the Veronelli wine guide of Italy named her new cuvée "Milledi" as the "anno bollicine" (translate: "the bubble of the year") in Italy.

Here, unlike champagne where everything has become mechanized, everything is still done by hand, even the riddling of the non-vintage Brut de Base! In Champagne, only Krug and Bollinger continue to work in this way (Bollinger, moreover, only for "top-of-the-range" vintages!). The terroirs of Ferghettina are marl-limestone at the foot of the Alps. The grape varieties are Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

While in Champagne maturing (except for prestige vintages) rarely exceeds 18 months on lees, here the basic Brut remains at least 24 months and vintage vintages between 36 and 60 months, or even more for some vintages. In short, we are at a truly exceptional level here. In Italy, Ferghettina is the darling of sommeliers and is on the menu of the greatest restaurants. When we talk about "Quality" and "Franciacorta", Ferghettina is now THE benchmark. The 200 hectare vineyard has been fully organic certified since 2013 but the family sells the equivalent of 100 hectares to keep only the best of the production for themselves. They decided not to put the certification on the bottles so as not to sacrifice fashion. For them it is a personal choice. The important thing is to sell a delicious wine and not to claim a label "that sells"... "