11 Dec Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Berlucchi ’61 2011 Palazzo Lana Extreme Pinot Noir, Franciacorta

While spending a month in Italy, I made a quick overnight stop in Franciacorta this past week to visit Berlucchi Winery, the region’s first and oldest sparkling wine producer. A few days later, I met an American couple while in Piemonte and was telling them about my short visit to Franciacorta. The woman immediately responded that she was a “Champagne snob”. I told her that I too love Champagne, but I also enjoy a variety of sparkling wines from around the world, especially Franciacorta, the hidden gem of a region located in Lombardy, just a short drive from Milano, in northern Italy. And I know that if she tasted the Berlucchi ’61 2011 Palazzo Lana Extreme Pinot Noir, Franciacorta, she would understand why it is the Please The Palate wine of the week.

About Berlucchi

Guido Berlucchi, a descendant of the Lana de’ Terzi family, a noble dynasty, was a successful landowner in Franciacorta producing still wines. In 1955 he met Franco Ziliani, a winemaker from Brescia who worked in Alba. Franco was in love with Champagne and saw the potential in Franciacorta. A valley surrounded by mountains, Franciacorta, consisting of 19 communes, consists of stony hills and calcareous soils. Cold air comes through the mountains from Lake Iseo, the fourth-largest lake in Lombardy. The diurnal shifts in temperature, which vary at least 18 degrees between the maximum and minimum temperatures, enable the grapes to ripen while maintaining their acidity and freshness.

Guido Berlucchi and Franco Ziliana met in the Palazzo Lana for the first time and decided to experiment with traditional method sparkling wine. In 1961, Belucchi and Ziliani bottled their first classic method sparkling wine, the 1961 Pinot di Franciacorta. Berlucchi was the first to produce traditional method sparkling wine in Franciacorta which became the fifth DOC in Italy in 1967. In addition, in 1962, Berlucchi was the first to produce a rosé sparkling wine in Italy.

Franciacorta is a small region with 2,800 hectares, compared to Champagne, which has 35,000 hectares. Berlucchi is the largest producer, owning 125 hectares (308 acres) and purchasing fruit from local growers for a total of 500 hectares of grapes (1240 acres). Of the 125 hectares owned by Berlucchi, it is predominantly planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir makes up only 15% of the planting. While Pinot Blanc is a permitted grape in Franciacorta, Berlucchi does not use it and is researching the newly approved indigenous grape Erbamat.

Franciacorta is the most self-imposed regulated region in Italy and Franciacorta has changed its rules seven times, raising the bar even higher for the region. The process is controlled from the vineyard through production. In addition, Berlucchi converted to organic farming in 2013 and received its certification in 2016. Other requirements of the region include picking grapes by hand, gently pressing the grapes, and long aging on the lees. Berlucchi follows these rules but goes beyond, with longer aging times.

Guido Berlucchi never had children so today the winery is run by Franco Ziliana’s children Christina, Arturo, and Paulo.

Tasting Notes

The Berlucchi ’61 2011 Palazzo Lana Extreme Pinot Noir, Franciacorta is a blanc de noir made from 100% Pinot Noir. Palazzo Lana is a very special wine, produced only in great vintages. The grapes come from two high-density estate vineyards in Borgonato, the hillslope Quindicipiò vineyard and Brolo, which overlook Palazzo Lana Berlucchi. The free-run must and juice from a gradual, gentle pressing are fermented in stainless steel, with the finest lots going into oak barrels for 6 months sur lie. Once the final blend is made, the wine re-ferments and is aged on the lees for at least 10 years. The 2011 was disgorged in 2022, and the wine spent an additional two years aging afterwards.

The Berlucchi ’61 2011 Palazzo Lana Extreme Pinot Noir, Franciacorta is rich and structured with aromas of red apple, roasted pineapple, ripe stone fruits, baking spices, and fresh bread. The wine is crisp and vibrant on the palate with a lingering finish.

Food Pairing

Berlucchi ’61 2011 Palazzo Lana Extreme Pinot Noir, Franciacorta has the body, structure, and freshness to pair with a variety of dishes, and that is what I did. I enjoyed the wine with a tasting menu lunch at Due Colombe, a Michelin Star restaurant in Borgonato, a few minutes walk from Berlucchi. The restaurant is in a deconsecrated church and we dined under a brick-vaulted ceiling. Offering three tasting menus, I chose the Classic tasting menu, featuring historic local dishes. We enjoyed this wine with the following dishes:

Sicilian Red Prawns with purple potato and Franciacorta sauce

Chicken salad with Montisola dry sardines, salsa verde, and chicken popcorn

Homemade Fagottelli “Milan-Bagolino”

Psychedelic Eel

Where To Purchase

The Berlucchi ’61 2011 Palazzo Lana Extreme Pinot Noir, Franciacorta retails for approximately $140. To find which vintages of the Palazzo Lana are available in the U.S., search on  www.wine-searcher.com.

Learn More About Berlucchi

Crush On This did a video about Berlucchi. Check it out here.