If you happen to hang around northern Italy looking up wineries to hit on your way up or down, then Eastern Lombardy has one definitely worth your while: Bellavista. Renowned for its spumante or sparkling wine it produces 1,5 mln bottles a year using only hand labour and peristaltic pumps.
Located on the southern shore of beautiful Iseo Lake, Bellavista occupies 190 hectares in Franciacorta section of Province Of Brescia, where in 1967 DOC appellation was born, which became DOCG in 1995.
Bellavista is a rather young business. The winery was opened by a local wine lover Vittorio Moretti in 1977, who 4 years later started selling his production to general public.
Today it's one of the biggest in Lombardy, although still quite small for Italian standards, where Antinori tops the charts with 88,3 mln bottles a year.
But the brand of Bellavista is known by everybody in Italy, and it's been on international offensive for the last decade or so! The company has been steadily growing its export while appreciation of its spumante, made using so called Metodo Classico, grew along.
When you get there, first you're amazed by the sea of grapevine. And when you finally cross the gate, and drive up the cozy driveway, your eyes will rest on a gorgeous front yard filled with art.
The only thing you need to do after that is to walk up to a ledge and enjoy a stunning view of the valley below with Iseo Lake in the background.
Grapevines
The gate
Front yard
The art
And the view...
When you enter the door, and pass the reception, you'll get into the modern lounge, where bronze sculptures mingle perfectly with designer cabinets exposing all the famous lines of spumante Bellavista is known for.
The lounge
I went there with a bunch of friends, and as soon as we entered, we were welcomed by an expert level guide, who took us on a tour of production facilities and wine cellars, explaining EVERY DETAIL of wine making that you could possibly think of.
In fact, some technical issues faded away very quickly, but then who wants to remember all this boring stuff, right?
Entrance to the cellar
White oak barrels used to age wine, which are sent to Burgundy every 5-6 years for control
Impressive wine racks... these bottles are turned 45° every 28 days by hand
The cellar is really long and dark with racks and crates everywhere
And after we were done with the tour, we walked in on a set table to degustate two most precious spumanti, that Bellavista has in its line-up.
Our guide and host is opening the bottles
The first was one was Bellavista Millesimato La Scala 2012 Brut, which had a rather strong perlage, typical Franciacorta nose with fresh aromas of apples and flowers. And on palate it had a classic dry taste of bread crust and citrus with refreshing acidity and perfect softness. This bottle costs around 37 EUR in Italy.
After that we tried Riserva Vittorio Moretti 2008 Brut, which was way more complex wine with fruit marmalade and raisin nose, but finer perlage. The taste was strong, persistent, dry, quite heavy on palate with notes of honey and ripe pineapple. Not a type of wine, that everybody will enjoy easily, and definitely not for beginners. The price of this bottle starts around 87 EUR in Italy.
Overall, a great occasion to find out more about one of the most important producers in the region, which quickly gains international recognition!
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