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Dass der italienische Schaumwein dem französischen dennoch ebenbürtig sei, betont Alberti, schließlich werde er nach der gleichen Methode hergestellt. Das heißt, der Wein gärt zunächst im Fass und muss mindestens 18 Monate reifen, bevor ihm Hefe und Zucker für die zweite, die Flaschengärung zugesetzt werden.
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North of the monastery, the ground rises. Thousands of years ago, melting glaciers left great mounds of debris behind them as they receded, creating a chain of hills around a horseshoe-shaped basin measuring roughly 20 square kilometers. And on this moraine landscape with its mineral-rich soil – ideal for growing Chardonnay, Pinot blanc and Pinot noir grapes – a divine hand appears to have randomly strewn human settlements: medieval-looking villages grouped around austere churches, magnificent family estates hidden away behind stone walls. Interspersed between them are vineyards and wine-growing estates, among them Castelveder, the estate belonging to Camilla Alberti. Clinging to a hill some 15 kilometers east of the monastery, Castelveder has been in her family for nearly 50 years. The 45-year-old vintner talks about the concerns of Franciacorta’s producers: that the market will become flooded with Prosecco and other cheap sparkling wines or that Champagne, with its luxury image, will overshadow it completely; that Franciacorta with its roughly 2500 hectares is tiny compared with its French competitor – ten percent the size of the wine-growing region in Champagne. Alberti points out that the Franciacorta bubbly is really just as good as its French cousin because it’s produced in the same way. In other words, the wine is fermented in casks for at least 18 months before yeast and sugar are added for the second phase of fermentation in the bottle. This is when the bollicine, the wonderful, small, sparkling bubbles appear.
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