Franciacorta is a small wine-producing area in Lombardy, northern Italy. It is famous for its high-quality sparkling wines, which are made very much in the image of Champagne. The Franciacorta wine region is located in the Brescia province, in the hills immediately south-east of the foot of Lake Iseo. The land of Franciacorta is characterized by rolling hills, rows of vines, delightful villages, castles and abbeys, crenellated towers and patrician villas immersed in the greenery of centuries-old parks. Giorgio Vezzoli lives in Franciacorta since he was born and even though his education was not linked to wine, he has always been a wine enthusiast. In 2006 he found an abandoned farmhouse surrounded by vineyards in the municipality of Corte Franca and he fell in love with it. He quit his job and changed his life. Le Quattro Terre (means The Four Soils) comes from the fact that in the beginning there were only four small Chardonnay vineyards just around the building. Since than Giorgio started to make Franciacorta with all the possible respect for the land. The vineyard follows organic farming practices and the grapes grown here are 100% organic. The reason why Giorgio decided to cultivate his grapes according to the principles of organic farming is very simple: he does not consider the land he works at as his property but as something that he’s borrowed from his children.
Giorgio also tries to use the natural environment to encourage biodiversity in the vineyards through: planting cover crops in between the vines, rigorous ploughing of the soils, the use of manures and natural composts to fertilize the vines, integrating predator populations to manage pests that threaten the vines or grapes. So, chemicals are not welcomed in his wine cellar and what he uses (selected organic yeast, organic sugar for the second fermentation) is strictly necessary.