Heir and ambassador of the ancient heritage of a superb wine territory, Franciacorta has production roots that reach back to the 16th century. Thanks to the dedicated passion of yesterday’s and today’s growers, the sensory characteristics of Franciacorta wines are well known and loved all over the world.

As long ago as 1995, Franciacorta was the first Italian wine produced exclusively by bottle refermentation to obtain Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status. Today, the labels bear only the designation Franciacorta, a single term that defines the territory, the method of production and the wine.

The territory

Franciacorta is a superb wine country set in the heart of Lombardy. Its present-day boundaries reflect the way the land was organised under the Viscontis, and continued to be administered when the Venetian Republic took over in the fifteenth century. Today, Franciacorta’s boundaries embrace the territories of nineteen municipalities in the province of Brescia.
In short, Franciacorta is a territory with an irresistibly fascinating cultural and environmental heritage. It is a territory to discover, savour and absorb.

The name

Franciacorta’s intriguing name takes us back through history to the Corti Franche when, following the arrival of Cluniac monks, it was an area of free trade (curtes francae). The place name “Franzacurta” is mentioned for the first time in 1277, in the municipal records of Brescia, to indicate the area between the rivers Oglio and Mella to the south of Lake Iseo.

The Consortium

Founded on 5 March 1990 at Cortefranca, and transferred a few years later to its current headquarter in Erbusco, the consortium has members belonging to the three professional categories of growers, winemakers and bottlers, in the production chains for the designations of Franciacorta DOCG, Curtefranca DOC and Sebino IGT.

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