Cute Premier Franciacorta

When it really comes down to it, the vast majority of the truly great wines in the world are produced because the people who make them have great passion for what they are doing. This is a passion that can come from many places. Perhaps wine has always been in the family and creating great wines simply continues this. Others have a passion for agriculture and farming that is converted into a passion for wines as they discover the joys of the grape.

Others have a eureka moment, after spending much of their careers supplying winemakers with grapes only to decide to give winemaking a try for themselves, while some producers arise thanks to the formation of partnerships that go down in industry legend as matches made in winemaking heaven.

In the case of Franciacorta, it is both the blood bond shared between brothers, coupled with the immeasurable talents of both, and the combination of a group of friends that allows the company to create truly special wines that are enjoyed by people all over the world. Here we are going to look at some of the history of the company and one of the best wines to emerge from the producer in recent years.

The History

The 1701 website describes the founding of the company as being born from an association of close friends. This group was involved in the leadership of one of the oldest companies in all of Franciacorta and gradually found themselves to be increasingly drawn to the rural origins of the organization and the wines and viticulture history that 1701 Franciacorta has come to represent.

This passion is personified by two brothers who have taken control of the project and now find themselves as the leaders of the cellars. Federico and Silvia Stefini helped to found the project and ow work together with their collaborators and friends to bring the collective’s ideas of what Italian wine should truly be to the masses.

Drawing on over three-hundred years of history, coupled with their own innovations and ideas, the group tends eleven hectares of one of the oldest wine estates in the world, doing so with a level of respect that ensured the land is able to offer the maximum possible to the grapes they produce, thus allowing for exceptional wines that are true representations of the region to be created.

Of this eleven hectares, only four are dedicated to the production of wine, making the drinks created by 1701 Franciacorta some of the most respected in the world. This small production also ensures that all of the grapes selected for the wines produced by the company are of exceptional quality.

It all works thanks to a shared commitment to the land. 1701 Franciacorta has adopted the methods of organic and biodynamic viticulture, both to ensure that people are offered the most accurate representation of the land they own in their wines and to allow for the land itself, which has been tended over centuries, to maintain the vitality and strength that it needs to grow quality produce.

By avoiding chemical intervention, 1701 Franciacorta aims to offer respect to their land and the overall philosophy of life that forms the backbone of the company and everything it hopes to achieve in the Italian wine industry.

All of this respect comes to fruition in the bottle, with every single wine produced by the company being carefully tended and crafted to express the authenticity of the terroir and everything that it has to bring to the industry.

This dedication to the land has won the company accolades and certifications that stretch far beyond recognition for the quality of their wines. 1701 Franciacorta is an organic-certified winery that has also recently been granted the Demeter certification. This marks their vineyards out as the first and only certified biodynamic vineyards in all of Franciacorta.

The company is also a member of Renaissance des Appellations, which requires them to be stringent in their efforts to follow the biodynamic farming methods that have allowed for the land to be tended and maintained as it has, without any forms of chemical intervention.

In short, 1701 Franciacorta brings a fairly unique approach to their work. They aim to make their wines the closest representation possible of the vines and lands that have been used to produce them, allowing each bottle to express the vitality and exuberance this suggests every time.

The company has been able to produce a varied range of wines by following this philosophy, each of which offers something a little different to the taster, while still carrying the hallmarks of the work the collective has put into their creation. This made it a particularly tough choice when selecting the wine to place our focus on, but we feel we have made a decision that will appeal to the widest audience.

1701 Cuvee Premier

What may surprise you about the 1701 Cuvee Premier is its low price. For such an exclusive wine company, which producers only a few thousand bottles of wine every year, it may be surprising to find that you can get your hands on one without having to spend a lot of money.

We assure you that the price tag is not indicative of the quality of this rather stunning sparkling white.

1701 created this wine to demonstrate their desire to experiment and introduce new ideas into the fold that complement their respect for the traditions of the land, while also building on the history that the company has in the region.

This means the 1701 Cuvee Premier sits quite comfortably alongside the Franciacorta classics that often get the lion’s share of the attention. It is the result of a skilful blending of both Chardonnay and Pinot Nero grapes that have been vinified using the famed Charmat method.

What most strikes the drinker when trying this rather wonderful wine is the stunning effect it can have on the palate. This is a wine that evokes the freshness that you would expect from a sparkling white, with generous ripe fruit flavours really standing out. As such, the 1701 Cuvee Premier is a successful experiment for 1701 Franciacorta and happily stands alongside some of the best sparkling wines produced in Italy today.