Bellavista Satèn Franciacorta 2020
£37.25
The wine
A distinctive sparkling wine displaying complex notes of medlar and flowers, autumn peach and mango together with nuances of patisserie and noisette. A smooth and creamy texture, with the perfect balance between ripeness and freshness, and excellent depth and volume.
Saten is unique to Franciacorta and has no Champagne equivalent. It must be Blanc de Blancs, from white grapes only, and is bottled at lower pressure, around 4.5 atmospheres rather than 6, which gives a noticeably softer, creamier mousse. The name evokes silk, and the style is the appellation's own invention.
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.
