Where wine becomes art Photo on the left: Flavio Bonetti Photo on the right: Franco Fontana Th ere are moments without words that only listening, winemakers reap from the nature around sensations can defi ne, feelings that reach the heart them. Ca’ del Bosco, home of an art form that from and become the rapture, joy and beauty of a moment the grape leads to marvellous harmony. Amidst to be treasured deep inside. Th e art of wine is one the gentle slopes and verdant hills of Franciacorta, such moment, a true form of expression, masterful in the enchanted setting of a legendary region, creation of the talent that only few possess, in tiny hamlets, patrician villas and medieval castles which dedication and skill blend in a magical, remain as testaments to a love for the earth handed mystical marriage with nature. Th e infi nite held down by those who live here. Ca’ del Bosco. Where in a single drop that, with slow, devoted and wine becomes art. painstaking passion, in the silence of the deepest Tradition Photo on the left: Ralph Gibson Photo on the right: Franco Fontana “Tractor prints in the mud attract your attention, have passed beneath these vineyards’ eyes. Only the intrigue you, remind you of the deepest secrets hidden vine observes the passing of events and silently, God- under sprays of water soft as silk. You hesitate but a like, contemplates them from above. And we still moment and, unable to resist this silent call, intangible, make use of its gifts, including the art of making fl eeting yet as strong as an inner voice, you give in and wine, an art that follows us always and everywhere: in your hazy, peaceful glance takes you into an abyss of happiness and pain, in moments of pure pleasure and wine in which are hidden, like refl ections of an abstract of deep meditation, to quench our thirst or accompany and impartial mirror, all the moments of the past: the our meals - an art that we make ours earlier than any summer and fall of the year, in which hands plucked other tradition, along with mother’s milk.” grapes from vines like musician’s hands extracting fabulous sounds from strings. And lo the wine begins to Anatole Korneev sing, to speak to you, trying to tell you that millenniums Dedication Photo: Don McCullin Dedication is everything for the grape grower and Dedication also means faithfulness, not just to the winemaker. Caring little gestures that daily express a work but to the land, honoring Mother Nature to constant love for the vine and for wine. Th ere are many achieve a result that is never immediate and is savored synonyms revealing the nuances of a word with such all the more because you must wait for it each time. It subtle power, intimate and yet so extreme. Dedication translates into solicitude, care, generosity in giving of leads to commitment, assiduous commitment through yourself to reach a goal: wine, delightful fruit of one’s all seasons and in the years to come, especially where devotion. You are never certain that it will be as you the art that is winemaking is concerned. expected, only sure that you have given it your all. Eff ort Photo on the left: Daniele Ciraolo Photo on the right: Ferdinando Scianna “Earth, fi re and steel. Th is is the wine in its elemental vineyard and the lone task of ‘remuage’ in pursuit of form, gnarled vines, rugged faces, damp earth, smoke the perfect bubble. Th e sky can be dark and dramatic, from fi res, cold metal. It is frost and fog, joy and warmth, the light in the cellar reminiscent of the Nightwatch, skill and sheer grit. Wine is not made by love alone. the task are endless, the seasons pitiless or kind but, Branches are bent, vine cuttings are burnt, tanks are at the end, there is wine.” fi lled, bottles are turned. It is hard and it is relentless if the quest is quality. Th ere is work in a team and solitary Serena Sutcliff e concentration, the championship of colleagues in the Passion Photo on the left: Giuseppe La Spada Photo on the right: William Klein “Man, the vertical animal, reaches towards the sky. it must be won over, loved. Its tamers caress it, train Th e vine, that for so long clung to trees, preceded it, direct it. In the cellar wine lives a hidden life, secret him: indeed, it conquered him, as seen by the grapes yet watched over. Step by step it becomes what it with which he loads himself and by the divine drink should, what it can be. Simple grape juice becomes that he gets from them, with Bacchus’ blessing. If the red (or white) gold.” gods and many sacred texts have sanctifi ed wine, its creators are earth and man’s passion. Th e vine is wild, Michel Dovaz Terroir Photo on the left: Georg Gerster Photo on the right: Flavio Bonetti Th e term “terroir” evokes green landscapes, gentle real concept, full of life, also has a cultural dimension hills, sunny slopes, geometric layout designed by linking it to its community. Franciacorta, a basin of long rows, men devoted to a passion for the places glacial moraine south of Lake Iseo, an excellent terroir. and traditions of their land. A terroir is therefore With, from its origins, a vocation for grape-growing a concrete, tangible place defi ned by many factors: that expresses itself in wines with special qualities geography, soil, geology, water and microclimate. Th is of aroma and fl avour, inimitable and easily identifi ed. Time Photo on the left: Flavio Bonetti Photo on the right: Giuseppe La Spada Time is a succession of instants - theoretically infi nite - in the vineyard, waiting for the best moment to harvest that mankind has conventionally divided into seconds, the grapes, following the rhythm of the seasons to pick minutes, days, months, years, centuries and millennia, them at the ideal moment of ripeness: in the cellar, numbered before and after the birth of Christ. We respecting the time needed to perfect the wine. And often forget that time is a measure of motion and that then you must have the patience to wait, a guarantee without motion there is no life, so in absolute terms of the fi nest results. Wine is therefore not just the fruit time is the measure of mankind. To make a great wine of the vine but also the fruit of time, the fruit of living. you must know time’s value and work without haste: Cuvée Prestige Identity, a virtue found in the etymology of an ancient and Pinot Bianco (10%) from more than a hundred word. From idem, or same, a set of homogenous vineyards (prime raw material to be vinifi ed separately, characteristics that comprise an entity. Cuvée Prestige, based on origin) go into the base wine that is then the essence of Franciacorta in Ca’ del Bosco style, a expertly blended with the noble reserves of the fi nest jewel created in 2007. Th e essence of love for wine vintages (at least 20%) in the magical rite of creating and of thirty years’ experience gained day by day in Cuvée. It will take many months of maturation on vineyard and cellar seeking sublimely seductive taste. the yeasts before this wine fully expresses its richness Experiences and intuitions that, year after year, give and identity. Cuvée Prestige: sublime transparency. A us intimate knowledge of the grape and the long classic, well-balanced Franciacorta, pleasantly fresh and transformation process that turns it into wine. Only the crisp. Perfect for any occasion. fi nest bunches of Chardonnay (75%), Pinot Nero (15%) Cuvée Prestige Rosé Transition. Pink. More than a colour, a suspended you have to hit it just right - a moment too soon and the mood, like a delicate transition from white to red in colour is too pale, a moment too late and it’s too dark. shades that are never quite one or the other. Th is is And then harmonious blending with Chardonnay, the innate feeling you get from a Franciacorta rosé, slow and patient aging, the art of contemplation in a magical sensation always midpoint between two silent cellars. Cuvée Prestige Rosé, a Franciacorta with colours. Giving birth to a special wine that naturally the fragrance and delicacy of a white wine plus the retains the virtues of both red and white. Th e rosé hue structure and aromas of a red. Th e delicate balance of is obtained after brief maceration of red Pinot Nero a subtle wine, a Franciacorta you can drink throughout grapes. Just a few hours are needed to get that delicate a meal. Th e ideal choice for the fi nest occasions. shade of pink reminiscent of springtime sunsets: Especially the most romantic. Vintage Collection Dosage Zéro Precision. Like the harmonious notes of a complex and is perfected through time with long refi nement orchestral work, every stage of production must be on yeasts. Th is is a “pure” Franciacorta, sincere, the performed with the utmost precision, following the fi nest expression of an extraordinary terroir and the timing and cadences that perfection requires. Th is person who understood its character and potential. is the “no-compromise” Franciacorta: no “liqueur Destined for connoisseurs who love this particular d’expédition” is added (the minimal amount of syrup style of Franciacorta, it is an excellent aperitif and added to other Franciacortas at disgorgement). Its a fi ne accompaniment for tasty seafood and raw fi sh.