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2009 La Montina Franciacorta Millesimato Brut, Vintage Sparkling from ItalyOctober 11, 2016
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Tenuta La Montina is an estate and winery located in the heart of the most prestigious Italian sparkling wine appellation of the Piedmont region in Northern Italy: Franciacorta.
More specifically, it is situated within the territory of Monticelli Brusati, a wine country that occupies a strip of land between Iseo’s Lake and the morainic Amphitheatre of Franciacorta built over time by an ancient glacier.
The area benefits from a special microclimate that is particularly suitable to the cultivation of vines and the production of fine sparkling wines.
La Montina vineyards extend over an area of about 72 hectares over 7 township territories. Landscapes here are predominantly hilly with limestone and clay silt soils.
Read along with us to discover more about this unique wine production area and Tenuta La Montina.
La Montina Wine Reviews & Tasting Notes
Brief history
The winery La Montina was founded in April 1987 by Vittorio, Gian Carlo and Alberto Bozza. The three brothers have taken the passion for the land and for enology from an early age.
Father Fioravante Antonio (nicknamed Fiore/Flower), with dyed hands of typical color by vintners, always worked the vineyards and produced Italian red wine.
Mother Vittoria Gaia (called Gina) ran his Tavern in the heart of Monticelli Brusati, the country of origin of the whole family. Today the Bozza family values are kept even from grandchildren, Michele and Daniele, which interpret them on new and technologically advanced concepts, in respect of the territory and of past generations.
A new wisdom, for the 21st century, to maintain faith in the commitment of a family tradition, which always renews itself.
1982 – Purchase of a hectare of land and Villa Baiana, historical house of Benedetto Montini, ancestor of Pope Paul VI
1987 – La Montina was founded by the three Bozza brothers, and the first harvest was done
1990 – Villa Baiana born
1998 – Opening of the contemporary art Museum “Remo Bianco”
2007 – Inauguration of Villa Baiana meeting congress center
2015 – Restyling of the bottles for a glamour image
2015 – La Montina official sparkling wine of AC Milan with the new Franciacorta Rossonero bottle
Location
The estate La Montina is located in the territory of Monticelli Brusati in the Franciacorta area of Piedmont in the North of Italy.
Franciacorta wines La Montina are produced according to the strict rules of Discipline of the Franciacorta Wines Consortium, the most restrictive in the world regarding the classical method (or traditional method).
The search for the highest quality zoning in the area begun in 1992 by the producers of the “Consortium for the protection of Franciacorta”.
It allowed to define the great wine-producing vocational nature of Franciacorta, studying and evaluating the effect of climatic, geographical characteristics and morphology of the territory.
This innovative detection system has allowed to enhance the interaction between the wine and the cultivation environment, enhancing the specificity and behavioral adaptation of a variety to the cultivation area.
Climate
Franciacorta is situated at the extreme northern edge of the Po Valley and is also part of the pre-Alpine system, south of Lake Iseo, therefore, although it is affected by a continental climate, it also derives enormous benefits from the proximity of the lake, which has a huge mitigating effect on temperatures in both summer and winter.
Evidence of this lies in Franciacorta’s typically Mediterranean vegetation, which includes both wild or naturalised plant species, and also those that are easy to cultivate, such as the olive tree.
Climatologists categorize this area as a Insubrian meso-climatic region.
Soil types
La Montina has vineyards in seven districts of Franciacorta. This allows to have grapes with different characteristics according to the kind of soil in which they grow.
The Viticultural zoning made by the Consortium Franciacorta in 1992 is used to improve knowledge of the production factors in the field that determine and influence the quality of the wines. It also allows to optimize and increase the efficiency of the work and choices of cultivation techniques.
Furthermore, it’s highlighted the importance of the terroir for the finished product because of its identification, recognition and the intrinsic link between name, production method, product type and quality.
The Consorzio’s study defined 6 functional soil unit types: Fine deposits, Fluvioglacial, Distal Colluvia, Deep moraine, Terraced colluvia, and Fine moraine.
Vineyards & Grape Varieties
The estate vineyards of La Montina cover a total surface area of 72 hectares (178 acres).
Those counts with the proportions of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir.
Winemaking
Franciacorta La Montina is produced in accordance with the strict laws laid down by the ‘Consorzio Vini Franciacorta’ (the body responsible for regulating the production and maintaining standards) of which it is a part.
The laws governing the wine are the strictest in the world relating to the production of ‘Metodo Classico’ (The Champagne or traditional Method) sparkling wine. These rigid guidelines aim at producing the best possible quality.
The production of Franciacorta demands only the use of noble grape varieties, (Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco for the white wines and Pinot Noir for the reds) and these must be hand-harvested in baskets with a capacity of 18-20 kg.
Its key characteristic is derived from the natural second fermentation in the bottle and the subsequent slow maturation and refinement on the lees (dead yeast cells). This period of maturation must be no less than 18 months for the non-vintage wines, 30 months for the vintage, and at least 60 months for the Riservas.
The harvest, completed manually without affecting the grapes maturation, starts at the beginning of August allowing the grapes to maintain high acidity.
Since 1999 Gian Carlo Bozza and the winery staff have been using a unique vertical ‘Marmonier’ press constructed by local artisans and friends of the La Montina estate. The aim is to maximize the quality of the juice during the pressing and the use of this special press is extremely rare in Franciacorta, in fact it is one of only two available in the whole region.
This type of mechanical press takes advantage of the full width of the vessel which has a diameter of 3 meters but a height limited to only 120 cm, to reduce the outflow time of the must and yet achieve a very soft pressing without breaking the skins and with a yield of 35%-40% juice. This soft pressing allows the berries to maintain all of their phenolic qualities which would largely be lost through an excessive, violent pressing.
The entire area devoted to the press is deliberately located above the winery so as to exploit the use of gravity to transfer the must, thus eliminating the need for pumps.
Depending on the grape variety, type of pressing and location of the original vineyard, the different musts are then divided between steel tanks and ‘barriques’ where they undergo the first fermentation.
Viticulture
The vineyards lie across low hillsides with soils consisting of calcareous clay and silt.
The yield is approximately 100 quintals (10 tons) per hectare with a vine density of 5400 to 7000 plants per hectare.
Total average annual production of La Montina Franciacorta is approximately 380K bottles.
People
- Owners: Vittorio, Gian Carlo, Alberto Bozza
- Winemakers: Rocco Marino, Alceo Totò
- Consultants: Cesare Ferrari, Nicola Secondè
- Other key actors: Michele Bozza (Export & Marketing manager) Daniele Bozza (Sales Area manager) Mariella Boniotti (administration manager).
The La Montina estate was founded in Franciacorta in 1987 by three brothers, Vittorio, Gian Carlo and Alberto Bozza.
Father Gian Carlo and two uncles Vittorio and Alberto come from the countryside and are imbued with its agricultural traditions. Their passion for the land and for winemaking was born out of these traditions and has been a part of their lives since childhood.
Why? Because their Father (nicknamed Fiore) had also worked in the vines and produced red wine. Their mother Vittoria Gaia (nicknamed Gina) ran her own ‘Osteria’ in Monticelli Brusati, a little village in the province of Brescia where we were all born.
This cycle of life in the vines of Monticelli Brusati continues as if the DNA of these men, passed down from countless generations, contains the genetic code for winemaker!
Wines
La Montina produces a wide range of Franciacorta sparkling wines as follows. Click on the buttons to read our wine reviews:
FRANCIACORTA BRUT
FRANCIACORTA EXTRA BRUT
FRANCIACORTA MILLESIMATO BRUT
FRANCIACORTA RISERVA BAIANA PAS DOSÉ
FRANCIACORTA ROSÉ DEMI SEC
FRANCIACORTA - ROSÉ MILLESIMATOEXTRA BRUT FRANCIACORTA SATèN
La Montina Mother Nature – Winery Introductory Video
Cellar door information
Opening 7 days out of 7:
From Monday to Friday: 10:00 am to 15:30 pm
Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 am to 15:30 pm (unless previously made appointment)
More information at La Montina Visits & Wine Tasting