Franciacortia and Curtefranca

I blogged about the still white wine from Ca' del Bosco recently. The area of the Province of Brescia from which the wine came was known to Virgil and Pliny the Elder and records date back to the mid 13th century. The name of Franciacortia was much more recent, having been coined in 1957 for the name of a wine. With the rise of sparkling wine production in the area, Franciacortia became the first DOC (granted 1967) to specify the traditional method of production and this together with the elimination of Pinot Grigio from the cepage resulted in the promotion of the area to DOCG status in 1995. (The grapes for Franciacortia DOCgG are Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco.)

However, the DOCG was only for sparkling wines, and the still wines remained in the renamed DOC of Terra di Franciacortia, and later (to avoid confusion) Curtefranca. Curtefranca whites are made from Chardonnay and Pinot Bianca, whilst the reds are made from Cabernet Franc or Suavignon, Merlot with a small amount of Nebbiolo and Barbera.