Almost every corner of Italy produces sparkling wine of some sort, but unfortunately much of it is of mixed quality and often suffers from industrial production. But in a small village in Northeastern Franciacorta, a young pioneering winemaker is making outstanding hand-crafted traditional method sparkling wines. Just don’t call them Franciacorta...
In 2012 Alessandra Divella started the only female-led estate in Franciacortia, Azienda Agricola Divella, and has become a true force to be reckoned with in the world of quality Italian sparkling wines. She creates elegant, terroir-driven wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the small village of Gussago. But she refuses to label her wines Franciacorta, choosing instead to use the name Gussago. She declares, “Franciacorta is something entirely different.”
Gussago is one of a few areas of Franciacorta blessed with the only limestone and chalk soils in the region. Long ago, lakes in the foothills of the Alps fed underground springs here, creating these limestone soils through hundreds of years of erosion. These minerals in the soils are evident in the wines made in the area, and the wines are distinct from those made elsewhere in the region.
Alessandra refuses to be confined by the traditions of the region, and instead employs the practices she learned while working with growers in Champagne.
The entire process is manual and artisanal – delicate handpicking to keep the grapes intact, destemming, and manual pressing by Alessandra herself, using a small old-fashioned basket press. The spontaneous ferments use only the ambient yeasts plentiful in her 19th century cellar and a raw cane sugar, and take place exclusively in oak barrels. There are no stainless steel tanks – a true rarity for this region.
Then there’s the ageing – only in oak, followed by up to 5 years of bottle ageing sur lie. She also shuns the typical regional addition of sugar – all her wines are zero dosage. She says “I use no dosage to keep the soil identity… which is very strong here.” Her restraint aims to keep the expression pure, and she also does not fine or filter the wines for the same reason.
Alessandra believes that the influence of the limestone soils, as well as her passionate winemaking practices, create wines that surely deserve their own name. Thus, she has never put Franciacorta on her labels. While Gussago is unknown to most, one sip of her wines will make you remember the name, as well as agree the wines truly are something entirely different.
