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| Cavalleri Pas Dosé Franciacorta 2010 |
Wine review
3 of 5 stars
A good wine
I’m attempting my very best to squint my eyes in the
pitch-black night of Brescia, but no. I can’t say much about the colour or the
bubble quality of this Franciacorta apart from that it looks temptingly fresh
as water condenses on the surface of the glass. After a day of blazing sun the
temperature is still 30 degrees Celsius. Not a very objective starting point
for reviewing a chilled bubbly, I admit!
Chardonnay is conveyed identifiably and elegantly on the
nose. Citrus character dominating, there are also marked notes of white flowers
and a hint of fresh apricot. Even though lees influence can be detected, these
aromas aren’t very developed but remain more yeasty than anything else.
Crispy dry, florally fresh and finely bubbling, this light
bodied Franciacorta has a wonderful mouth feel. Very high acidity is
complemented by medium fruitiness. Flavourwise the story continues along the
same lines with the nose – floral and citrus notes are leading the way, while
slight yeasty notes of lees appear on the mid-palate. Lime flavour stays for a
medium length in the finish.
Although this sparkling wine reflects its variety and
terroir, I find it somewhat simplistic aromatically – hence a good wine instead
of very good. Nevertheless, it is definitely good and I would have it again in
an instant, should Finland be so lucky to still get a couple of sunny days this
summer.
Info in a nutshell
Price examples:
EUR 6/glass, EUR 24/bottle wine bar Dolcevite, Brescia,
Lombardy, Italy
EUR 28.55 web shop www.saporedivino.biz (site in Italian
only)
Country and region: Italy, Lombardy, Franciacorta DOCG,
Erbusco
Grapes: 100% Chardonnay
Alc vol: 12,5%
Producer: Cavalleri
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| Cavalleri Pas Dosé and Duomo Vecchio di Brescia |
Background
Franciacorta, “Champagne of Italy”, lies in Lombardy, on the
shore of lake Iseo, neighbouring the city of Brescia. Although Franciacorta is
now regarded probably the most prestigious sparkling wine of Italy, the history
of this noble bubbly remains relatively short. It was only in 1961 when the
oenologist Franco Ziliani of Berlucchi winery envisioned a bottle fermented sparkling wine.
Preceding, only still wines for everyday use were produced in the area.
The vision proved to be successful as Franciacorta
rightfully received a DOCG status in 1995. Today, this champagne character
sparkling wine is produced to highest of standards, solely from Chardonnay and
Spätburgunder grapes, with the exception of allowing for maximum of 15% of
Grauburgunder in the blends. Franciacorta stays on lees minimum of 18 months,
the requirement being minimum of 30 months for vintage wines. Cavalleri Pas
Dosé 2010 has had lees contact of at least 42 months, and its remuage has been
manual.
This Pas Dosé 2010 is very dry indeed, as no sugar has been added post
disgorgement. Not adding sugar at this stage influences also the development of
the wine from this point on. Typically, the proteins released from the lees
before disgorgement would now further interact with the newly added sugar
creating more complex lees flavours such as those of honey, toast and nuts.
Further development also occurs in pas dosé wines, but in a different, less
understood manner, as this method is relatively new in sparkling wine
production. Hence, it may well be that my slight disappointment towards the
aromatics of this wine is due to its pas dosé –typicity, which is a novel area
to me. Obviously, I’d need to try more of these wines to gain insight. I’ve got
no objections to that!
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