Franciacorta cont’d

Posted on 13 November 2011

Leading Italian wine writer Franco Ziliani sent me some fascinating statistics on Franciacorta. According to a market study conducted last summer, Franciacorta has not only increased sales in 2011 by a comfortable +16% in Italy and an impressive +30% abroad. It has also managed to keep prices high at an average of 20€/bottle retail. But the most impressive data regards brand awareness with over 75% of Italian consumers familiar with Franciacorta and associating it with high quality, prestige and bliss. Levelling with Champagne in terms of sales and image in less than two decades of marketing effort is certainly a great achievement for this young winemaking region.

I’d be keen to read a similar study for other countries. The familiarity index of Franciacorta in Germany or the UK would more likely be 7% not 75%, and here in Poland, closer to 0.75%. So it’s interesting that the region still thought it worthwhile to come to Warsaw with a strong representation and present 35 wines at a recent WINO Magazine gala tasting.

I’ve already voiced my concerns in this previous post and they were pretty much confirmed by this tasting. There were many good wines. No duds. A few delicious wines, such as Il Mosnel‘s exciting basic Brut
and the tense, structured, Chablisian Extra Brut EBB 2007. Ca’ del Bosco didn’t disappoint and their Dosage Zero confirmed that it’s probably the best widely distributed Franciacorta. I’m also impressed with the continuous qualitative ascent of Antica Fratta whose Brut Essence NV beats the majority of vintage bottlings. Gatti and Majolini were two overperformers.

That being said, many wines although clean, well-made and satisfying by any standards did actually lack a bit of personality. With Franciacorta’s moderate acidity (compared to Champagne but also German Sekt or Tasmania, to name but two), many wines were excessively soft and muffled, lacking the sharp edge that enlivens the best sparkling wines. Indeed morbido seems to be an eagerly summoned keyword. Flavour profiles of many wines were somewhat modest and standardised. Not so many basic NV Bruts showed anything in terms of memorable personality that would urge me to rebuy. Many of the estates showing their wines in Warsaw are small family affairs and still looking to establish their style fully. A few renowned names were also missing. But on the whole it was a representative sample and at 20 to 30€ per bottle I think many consumers walked away underwhelmed.

Here lies the true challenge for Franciacorta in the future. If the region wants to move beyond its current 10% proportion of exports, more needs to be done. A serious qualitative and stylistic needs to be created not only to fizz labelled Trento or Oltrepò Pavese but also Jansz and Brundlmayer. Patriotic enthusiasm and the Italian mania for a sparkling aperitivo or three before dinner won’t suffice anymore. Price positioning will need to be addressed (it’s certainly a hindrance here in Poland). Franciacorta has the potential to achieve this but it needs more forward-looking estates like Il Mosnel.

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Disclosure

All wines were tasted at a public tasting event where I was invited free of charge as a journalist.