2016 Marchesi Antinori Franciacorta Tenuta Montenisa Conte Aymo Blanc de Noir

Marchesi Antinori is synonymous with the best of Italian winemaking. The Antinori family has been in the wine producing business for 26 generations and it now one of the most successful and admired producers in Italy. Based in Tuscany and Umbria, the family has in recent decades bought estates in other parts of Italy as well as the United States. The business is led by Marchese Piero Antinori, who is respected for his passionate attention to tradition and terroir as well as his interest in innovation and new ideas. Antinori originally made its reputation by producing Chianti Classico, though these days it is equally known for its Super Tuscans -- Guado Al Tasso Bolgheri, Solaia and Tignanello. Super Tuscans are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Merlot or Syrah, and were among the first blended wines in Italy. Marchesi Antinori owns about 4,000 acres of vineyards and produces between 40,000 and 50,000 cases of its three Super Tuscans annually.

Lombardy is in the north, just under Switzerland, and it is home to Milan and Italy’s major business centers. Lombardy (Lombardia, in Italian) is also the center for what some consider Italy’s best sparkling wines. Though the Veneto has long been known for its prosecco, the Franciacorta DOCG, one of two DOCGs in Lombardy, is famous for its sturdier, elegant, Champagne-style sparkling wines, which are made by metodo classico, the traditional French Champagne-making process requiring two separate fermentations, among other steps. The sparkling wine industry here is relatively young, having started only in the 1960s. But money for Lombardy wineries has come from wealthy regional industrialists, and it has grown quickly. There are nearly 70,000 vineyard acres in Lombardy and it ranks eleventh in terms of production among Italy’s wine regions. There are thirteen DOCs making red and white wines. Chardonnay is the dominant white grape and it is used in many sparkling wines. Red wines are made from Barbera, Bonarda, Lambrusco and Chiavennasca, which is a regional variation of Nebbiolo. Bellavista in Franciacorta is the most famous producer in Lombardy, although the DOC Oltrepo Pavese is also considered to have an excellent terroir. Valtellina, which has a DOCG and DOC, in the far north makes Chiavennasca, which is Nebbiolo.