Al Rocol Winery 26.12.24
You may be asking what happened to day 4? It was Christmas Day and despite the bright weather outside we both decided to retire to our room for the day to catch up on some reading and resting as we have had some busy days so far.
I take a walk along the lake frontage this morning to the next door village of Cisano and observe some bird life on the lake, plus a church and the views across the lake. Our hotel is just in Bardolino but the Cisano village centre is actually closer as it is a few minutes walk whilst Bardolino is probably five minutes or so in the coach, let alone walking!
A little later our coach arrives for a trip of about an hour back westwards to the area of Franciacorta. Whilst this was always a vine growing area in about 1957 an entrepreneur investigated the classico method (Methode Champenoise) for producing a sparkling white wine following that classical method very closely – including the same grape varieties and subsequently pursuing formal DOGC approval which was achieved in 1996. With such accreditation there was rapid growth as more and more vineyards joined the arrangement and it now underpins much of the region’s activities.
At the Al Rocol vineyard the secondary fermentation in the bottle is still undertaken by turning the bottles in the racks manually to allow the sediment to gather in the neck of the bottle – I think it was implied that some places now have machines for this turning activity. Even more impressive sounding (although not seen) are the machines used at the end of the fermentation process. The bottles are inverted, the content of the neck is frozen and is then rapidly expelled by the gases in the wine. The bottles then have a small amount of wine added and the bottles are resealed for sale – that must move very quickly to prevent losses of the precious liquid contained therein. It is amazing how technology makes progress.
The vineyard also produces a range of other wines. The prime product, the sparkling Franciacorta is very clean and the one we tasted does not have the “biscuity” flavour which I often associate with champagne – I quite like it. The other wines are also good. This individual winery no longer ships to the UK (although they will ship to the USA) as a side effect of our leaving the EU they are not prepared for paper mountain needed. One of our party resides in Sweden and is able to place a significant order.
It is a family run business and we gather that “Mother” is in the kitchen preparing the excellent snacks which accompany our wine tasting whilst most of the full time employees are family members, with other staff being part time. This provision of decent snacks also brings to me the winery on the slopes of Mount Etna which provided a decent repast whilst wine tasting.
Unlike most vineyard visits we do not get to see the vines themselves, but at this time of year they would look pretty dead. We understand that there are about three large producers of Franciacorta wines and then a very large number of small producers all of a similar size to this one and all working to the same DOCG standards to ensure a consistent output between the wineries.
In mid-afternoon we return to Bardolino – again a quieter day – there is more free time on this tour than on others.
Adding the brochure description of the day:
Following a relaxed breakfast, we enjoy an excursion by coach to the Franciacorta wine region.
Here, we stop at a local winery for a tour that teaches us all about the production process followed by an expert-led tasting of the vineyard’s different vintages accompanied by local specialities.
Franciacorta is a small wine-producing area in Lombardy, northern Italy. It is famous for its high-quality sparkling wines, which are made very much in the image of Champagne. The Franciacorta wine region is located in the Brescia province, in the hills immediately south-east of the foot of Lake Iseo.
On the return to our hotel, tea and coffee and a selection of small pastries and cakes awaits, before we enjoy a gala dinner in the evening.