Franciacorta DOCG white Italian Sparkling Wine

 We tasted this sparkling wine as an apéritif when we joined our friends for dinner. Our host is a bit of a wine expert and asked us to guess the wine blind. I didn't do so bad as I guessed in was a high quality Prosecco; at least I got the country right. My wife was a little more circumspect. She has got a really good sense of smell. She was holding the wine at waist level and the look on her face was a picture. I could tell from her expression that the wine was not Champagne well before she expressed an opinion. She is from the Champagne region of France.

The wine turned out to be Franciacorta Brut NV from the Brescia province of Lombardy in northern Italy. This sparkling wine is made by the champagne method. The wine is very fine and of excellent quality with a "biscuity" flavour  reminiscent of Champagne. You can also taste the umami flavour of the yeast after the wine has rested on its lees. The wine was bone dry and has very fine bubbles. Franciacorta is produced from Chardonnay grapes in gravel and limestone based soils and the taste resembles Crémant de Bourgogne which is also produced by the champagne method from grapes grown on limestone soils - mostly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It is of much higher quality than most of the Prosecco produced in the Veneto region. Most Prosecco is not produced by the champagne method, so the secondary fermentation takes place in a tank.  There are, however, some higher quality Proseccos that are made by the champagne method, hence my confusion, or that's what I like to think. 

Why did my wife not even have to taste the wine before she recognised that it was not Champagne? She grew up in Champagne and is completely familiar with the wine, she doesn't need to become "all analytical" she just recognises Champagne by its smell and doesn't even have to taste it - like I do. She never gets it wrong like me, as I have mistaken an English sparkling wine for Champagne at a blind tasting.

My wife and I had not tasted Franciacorta before, but we shall drink more of it in the future even though it is more expensive that standard Prosecco. However, we will still stay loyal to the world's best wine like true Champenoises and an honorary male one.

https://www.majestic.co.uk/sparkling-wines/castelveder-franciacorta-brut-23356 

Are we going to see the demise of the wine industry?

 Further to my previous article, I can see more and more problems ahead for the wine industry in both France and the rest of the world, we could see wine production almost disappear in the future , but not in my lifetime.

There has been a huge drop in the demand for wine in France and other countries. Part of the problem for wine producers is a change to the buying power of younger people who are turning to non-alcoholic drinks, and drinks which they consider safer to consume from the point of view of chemical additives. 

Probably, advertising campaigns about the consumption of alcohol are beginning to work especially with the younger generations who are concerned about  the effects of over consuming alcohol on their health. Younger people  are turning to cocktails etc. without alcohol. France has a culture which encourages the development of new tastes so wine is under threat. 

All of us are concerned about the additives in our food; sulphites are added to most wines to act as a preservative, so many young people are reducing their wine consumption to reduce their ingestion of chemicals. Sulphites, however, are added to an enormous range of food and drinks but wine seems to be the strongest target against sulphites.

Even though demand for wine is falling, the price of wine does not seem to be going down, even in France. Many vineyards are being grubbed up  to reduce wine production. Eventually a new balance will be established between production and demand and no doubt  prices will go up. Soon, the majority of the population may only be able to afford wine on special occasions - even lower quality wine. What a shame it will be if the tradition of opening a bottle of good wine with friends disappears.

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230825-france-eu-to-spend-200-million-euros-on-destroying-surplus-wine