Riccardo Ricci Curbasto brings his Franciacort to Manhattan
By Marisa D'Vari | November 11th, 2010 | Category: Wine reviews | No Comments »
You've heard of Franciacorta, yes? It is the high end Italian sparkler people compare to the best French champagne. In fact, give a friend a blind tasting test and that individual would be hard pressed to identify the French champagne.
The reason is because Franciacorta is a specific DOCG region in the north of Italy, and producers use the "traditional method" of making sparkling wine as they do in Champagne. The combination of the soil, elevation, and climate work together to produce very good grapes for sparkling wine. Grape varieties include Chardonnay (60%,
On October 26, the soave Riccardo Ricci Curbastro came to New York to welcome the addition of his sparkling wines to the Domenico Valentino portfolio at I Trulli Ristorante. He gave our group a small talk about his estate, which includes a modern underground cellar near Villa Evelina.
During the lunch we tried three of the wines -- Franciacorta Brut NV, Brut Rose NV, and Extra Brute 2006. All were delicious, yet my favorite was the 06, which was very smooth and rich.
The pairings worked quite well ... especially the 06, excellently paired with cows' milk cheese, crabapple Mostarda, and Chestnut cake.
Attending the lunch with Mr. Curbastro was his son, who looked about high school age and spoke English quite well. Now that the wines are in New York, I hope you can try them against your favorite champagne.
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