Winery Guido Berlucchi
Corte Franca (Borgonato), Lombardy
It all began in the seventeenth-century palazzo of Borgonato, where in 1955 Guido Berlucchi brought in young winemaker Franco Ziliani to improve a family white wine. After six years of experimentation, the first three thousand bottles of bottle-fermented Pinot di Franciacorta were sealed in 1961, the forerunner of the region's classic method. That idea effectively gave rise to Franciacorta as we know it today, among Italy's most prestigious sparkling-wine denominations. The tour through the estate's historic rural courtyards traces this story, taking in cellars, vineyards and the villa that saw the birth of the first Franciacorta.