The story goes that a couple of years ago, at a high society charity event in Milan a noted British rock star was served a sparkling wine that impressed him so much that he asked to be introduced to its producer who happened to be present at the event, and to whom he is reported to have said “This is the greatest Prosecco I’ve ever tasted”. The wine was in fact a metodo classico riserva made by one of Franciacorta’s top producers. The anecdote may be apocryphal, but it could easily be true. The big wide world (and not only – the misconception is also becoming common in Italy) has started to perceive anything Italian with bubbles as Prosecco, without distinction of origin or refermentation method.

Summary:  Contrary to popular belief Franciacorta is not a new wine region in fact wines have been produced in this region since the sixteenth century. However, the modern history of the region began in 1961 with the production of the first sparkling wine in the region by Franco Ziliani, winemaker at the Guido Berlucchi winery. The popularity of these wines attracted the attention of

Maurizio Broggi, DWS, FWS, is the Education Director for the Italian Wine Scholar (IWS) program. During an eight-day summer tour, he led a group of IWS educators through three of Italy’s northern wine producing regions, Trentino, Franciacorta and Lugana.

Italy's white wines are as diverse as the country's reds. There is an Italian white wine with a trove of native varieties to fit every budget and occasion. Unfortunately, there are so many choices that shopping for Italian white wine can be overwhelming. It doesn't help matters that many of the white grapes have similar-looking names. However, you don't have to memorize an encyclopedia to find the perfect wine for dinner. Knowing a few essential wines will ease the confusion and simplify the shopping trip (hint, if the grape or wine name has a "v" in it, you will probably love it.)