ON THE TRAIL
Ronco Calino
Located near the town of Rovato ( Lombardy ’ s unofficial gastronomic capital ), the organic vines on this 32-acre property arc northward toward Lake Iseo . Winemakers Paolo and Lara Radici favor pinot noir for their aromatic wines , including the Rosé Radijan , a 100 % pinot noir Franciacorta with notes of juniper balsam . Tastings at the winery are intimate affairs , accompanied by grissini and Parmigiano- Reggiano . For the annual Franciacorta Summer Festival ( May to September ), the couple often invite local chefs to oversee their gourmet vineyard picnics .
Ricci Curbastro
Tracing its roots back to 1885 , Ricci Curbastro marries heritage and innovation . It became an exclusively organic producer in 2017 — a year after becoming the first estate in Lombardy to earn the Equalitas-Sustainable Wine standard . From using solar energy to power their operations to re-greening the landscape with centenary mulberry hedges and even fostering biodiversity with an in-house brood of endangered Romagnola chickens , the Curbastro family are custodians of the land with posterity in mind . As if to serve as a constant reminder of this , the estate ’ s oenology museum catalogs thousands of items linked to the area ’ s agrarian traditions .
Villa Franciacorta
Located in a 15th-century village in the Monticelli Brusati area , bounded by terraced vineyards and accessed via a Roman road once traveled by Virgil , Villa Franciacorta was founded in 1960 by Alessandro Bianchi and has been producing Franciacorta DOC since 1974 . Signature wines , including the exuberant Briolette Rosé Demi-Sec , use patented endemic yeasts in a process overseen by microbiologists from the University of Florence . This is a real family affair : Alessandro ’ s daughter Roberta led the restoration of the drystone houses that once belonged to the village ’ s sharecroppers , transforming the agriturismo arm , Villa Gradoni , into 22 selfcontained apartments and an osteria .
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