Lessini Durello - Borgoletto - Metodo Martinotti - Franchetto

Franchetto's Lessini Durello DOC Borgoletto Brut is the Veronese sparkling wine that deserves far more recognition than the market has given it so far - an utterly niche appellation produced exclusively in the Veronese Monti Lessini from an extremely rare indigenous grape variety, Durella, which is found nowhere else in the world except on these basalt hills between Verona and Vicenza.

Franchetto is one of the benchmark producers of the Lessini Durello appellation - a small family winery that works with Durella with the same seriousness and artisanal dedication that Valpolicella producers bring to Corvina. Borgoletto - named after the estate vineyard in the Monti Lessini - is made from 100% pure Durella, the indigenous Veronese grape known for its exceptionally high natural acidity and intense minerality, characteristics that make it particularly well suited to sparkling wine production.

The winemaking is precise and respectful: gentle pressing of the grapes to preserve all the varietal aromas, fermentation in stainless steel at a controlled temperature for 10-12 days, followed by secondary fermentation in an autoclave according to the Martinotti Method for 6 months, with the wine remaining on its own lees until bottling - a period significantly longer than the minimum required for the Charmat method, developing a light but perceptible autolytic complexity.

Durella is an extreme grape variety - its natural acidity is among the highest of any Italian grape, translating into a sparkling wine of extraordinary freshness and verticality, much sharper and more mineral than a Prosecco or a Soave Spumante. On the nose it is fresh and precise: green apple, lemon, grapefruit, white wildflowers, aromatic herbs from the Lessini and a distinctive mineral note of basalt and flint that is the unmistakable signature of this volcanic territory. On the palate it is fresh, savory, almost crunchy - a fine, lively bead, sharp and precise natural acidity, persistent mineral salinity and an impeccably clean, thirst-quenching finish with notes of citrus and stone. The classic aperitif wine that never tires.

At €14 for an artisanal vintage wine made from an extremely rare indigenous grape variety, it is simply one of the best buys possible in the Italian sparkling wine category.