Blanc de Blancs 2018 is a natural wine crafted by female winemaker Alessandra Divella, in the Lombardy region in Italy, more specifically Franciacorta. This sparkling wine, similar to Champagne in its style, is made with 100% Chardonnay grapes which are grown with a lot of care on Alessandra's small 2 hectare estate, mostly composed of clay and limestone soils. In the cellar there are no additions and zero dosage.
We hear this 2018 Blanc de Blancs is more acidic than the newer 2019, and as such, would benefit from a little aging to find more balance. This wine was disgorged in 2022
Her vibrant wines have made her stand out as a leader of artisanal Franciacorta when it comes to naturally made sparkling wine and for good reason - these wines taste amazing and can hold up to their own when put against Champagnes.
For those unaware of Franciacorta, this is a special region in Lombardy that has not been making 'Not-so-Italian-style' wine for very long - only around 60 years!
However, this region stands out, as rather than make sparkling wine in the Prosecco style over in nearby Veneto (which uses the Charmant method to achieve bubbles), the producers in Franciacorta use the Traditional Method exactly like producers in Champagne do - this is highly unusual in Italy!
What does this mean? Well, it’s a different bubble structure and could be argued is harder to achieve good results with. It generally requires more time to make, as many producers favour aging their wines on the lees (the yeasts) in order to achieve a more complex flavour profile.
