Bellavista Alma Assemblage 2 Franciacorta Extra Brut
£29.75
The wine
A fine and persistent mousse with a delicate bouquet of Mediterranean flowers combined with lively citrus notes and sweet spice. Balanced, gentle and structured on the palate, with a mineral finish that adds depth and character. Beautifully composed, with natural freshness.
Franciacorta is made exactly as Champagne is, with a second fermentation in bottle and extended lees ageing, and its rules are in places stricter. Alma is the house non-vintage, a blend across years to a consistent style. Extra Brut means very low dosage, under 6 grams of sugar per litre, so the wine stands on its own structure.
The producer
Bellavista
View all Bellavista winesVittorio Moretti founded Bellavista in 1977 at Erbusco in the heart of Franciacorta, beginning with a few hectares and building to 207. The name translates as beautiful view.
Franciacorta is Italy's answer to Champagne and is made the same way: a second fermentation in the bottle, extended ageing on the lees, and the same grapes, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with a little Pinot Bianco. The appellation's rules are in places stricter than Champagne's, requiring longer minimum lees ageing for its non-vintage wines, and the wines are made in far smaller quantity. The region sits at the foot of the Alps above Lake Iseo in Lombardy, where moraine soils left by a retreating glacier give the drainage and the minerality.
Bellavista is among the two or three names that made the appellation's reputation, and the range is deliberately expressive rather than austere, with generous lees ageing and a proportion of oak fermentation. The still Curtefranca whites come from the same estate under the region's table-wine appellation.






