The origins of Franciacorta

in the Italian Renaissance

GABRIELE ARCHETTI
I n t ro d u c t i o n b y Ke r i n O ’ Ke e f e
INTRODUCTION
Silvano Brescianini
President of Consorzio Franciacorta

“The cultivation of the vine represents a characteristic

feature of the production of the Lombard territory
called Franciacorta, where a viticultural crop specialized
in hilly area is documented since the early Middle Ages.
In particular the monastic and episcopal documentation
allow us to identify also the grape varieties, white and red,
which have been produced and sold since the very end of
the XII century “.
So writes Prof. Gabriele Archetti in “Vite e vino nel
medioevo-Note storiche sul territorio bresciano”(Arti
Edition of 2017), a document of great importance on the
history of wine in Franciacorta.

The decision to involve Prof. Archetti in the realization of

a synthesis - which you will find here with the precious
introduction by our dear Friend Andrea Grignaffini - was
born precisely from that book, and from the desire to
mention and share the deep enological roots of our land,
Franciacorta.

I thank Professor Archetti and Andrea Grignaffini because

they enthusiastically welcomed this project following it
with great professionalism and I thank the reader who will
dedicate himself to the reading of this journey to discover
Franciacorta in the Renaissance.
 Nature
“
has given nothing
“
more useful
than wine to man

Girolamo Conforti
“Libellus de vino mordaci”
Brescia 1570
4 5

FRANCIACORTA:
ROOTS AND REBIRTH
Kerin O’Keefe
If there’s a still secret jewel waiting
to be discovered by the international
wine world, it’s Franciacorta from
Lombardy. A world-class, bottle-
fermented sparkler (called Metodo
Classico in Italian), it boasts pedigree
and style. While well known in
Italy, only a little more than 11%
of Franciacorta’s annual production
of 17.6 million bottles is currently
exported around the world. However,
this number is destined to increase
as the denomination continues
6 7
its successful efforts to distinguish itself from among
the world’s traditionally-crafted, sparkling wines.
I’ve been trying Franciacorta since I moved to
Italy years ago, and the changes that I’ve witnessed,
especially in just the last decade alone, have
been remarkable. Today there’s much more focus
on choosing the best vineyard sites as well as
a denomination-wide commitment to organic
viticulture and organic wines. There’s also the
extremely positive and growing trend of using less
dosage or even skipping it altogether. These combined
factors have resulted in today’s focused, elegantly
structured Franciacortas that express their distinctive
growing zone.
But far from being just a Modern Day success story,
the denomination is a descendent of a centuries-
old tradition of viticulture geared toward quality
wine production.
Roots
Franciacorta as we know it today is a relatively
recent phenomenon, created between 1955 and
the early 1960s, when a young enologist named
Franco Ziliani boldly suggested the idea of
making a Metodo Classico to aristocratic land
owner and wine producer Guido Berlucchi.
Berlucchi accepted the challenge, and the two
teamed up to make a traditional method sparkling
wine in what was then an area producing exclusively
still table wines. After some trial and error,
their first vintage was 1961. The following year,
the dynamic duo made what is credited as Italy’s
first Metodo Classico Rosé. Their success caught
the attention of other local growers and producers
as well as outside investors, and eventually led to
the creation of Franciacorta DOC (Denominazione
di Origine Controllata) in 1967. This was followed
by DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata
e Garantita) recognition in 1995, when Franciacorta
became regulated under the strictest quality
controls in Italy.
Despite being created in the 1960s, Franciacorta’s
vinous roots, including a focus on making
quality wine, are actually ancient, as Professor
Gabriele Archetti, Professor of Medieval History
at Milan’s Sacred Heart Catholic University,
points out in this new publication, The Origin
8 9
of Franciacorta in the Italian Renaissance.
Thanks to this book, we get a better understanding
of the unique growing area and how centuries
of winemaking paved the way for contemporary
Franciacorta.
Prof. Archetti cites documents from the Middle
Ages that demonstrate the importance of wine
production on local farming and on the Franciacorta
economy. Among the most significant are
monastic documents from the influential women’s
abbey of Santa Giulia in Brescia hailing from
the 8th and 9th centuries that identify the best
vineyard sites of the Benedictine Monastery.
Situated between Lake Iseo and Brescia, these
vineyards were directly controlled by the nuns.
Modern Day zoning studies, including soil analysis,
have confirmed that the best sites today are those
that were already identified by the monastic
community hundreds of years ago.
By the 11th century, records show that grape-
vine cultivation was increasing significantly and
expanding up to the hilly areas with better exposition.
 The same records also indicate a focus on higher
quality, specialized viticulture; an idea that
was light-years ahead of its time when compared
to the traditional coltura promiscua, or mixed
cultivation of crops and viticulture that lasted
well into the first half of the 20th century
throughout Italy. Besides descriptions of preparing
terrain for specialized vineyards, these archives
further reveal, unsurprisingly, that grapes
planted in the Middle Ages were pre-phylloxera
varieties that were completely different from what is
planted now in Franciacorta.

Prof. Archetti makes the case that there is some

historical basis to affirm a tradition of producing
effervescent, or to be more precise, ‘lively’ wines
in the area as far back as the Middle Ages.
Perhaps the best description of these wines is that
they weren’t entirely still. And while they pre-dated
bottle fermentation, these invigorating offerings
were none-the-less the product of a specific wine
making technique.

10 11
One historical publication that leads to this
hypothesis is Libellus de vino mordaci that was
published in 1570 by Girolamo Conforti, a physician
from Brescia. As Archetti points out, Conforti wrote
his treatise from a medical standpoint, not from an
enological perspective. Conforti opened his essay by
highly praising wine and underlying its importance in
daily life by stating, “Nature has given man nothing
more useful than wine.” However, the doctor also
referred to the ‘biting’ young wines that while greatly
appreciated by the people, were deemed ‘dangerous’ on the subject. One of the most important figures
to one’s health by the medical standards of the day. in Renaissance agronomy and on viticulture, Gallo
described in great detail a technique for making
cisiolo, a local white wine made from black-skinned
While the Libellus seems on one hand, albeit with grapes that remained “fizzy” and “sweet” for months.
a flexible interpretation, to be an affirmative answer According to Gallo, cisiolo was “appreciated on the
to the question over whether there was a history tables of the Lombard aristocracy.”
of making fizzy wines in Franciacorta centuries
ago, the Professor surmises that the mordace wine
described in Libellus was however “significantly The practice entailed immediately separating the
different” when compared to today’s Franciacorta and must from the just-pressed grapes and letting
to “any wine with bubbles”. them ‘boil’ or ferment for a brief period before
being put into small barrels. The barrels were
reinforced with iron bands and water-proofed
Key works written by scholar Agostino Gallo with animal fat on the outside. To block the
who had holdings around Brescia shed more light fermentation, the barrels were then submerged in

12 13
14 15
water or left at the bottom of a well before being
brought to the cellars to rest. The result was a foaming,
rather sweet wine that by all accounts was very much
enjoyed. According to Gallo, this practice wasn’t new
among Brescian farmers and this statement is backed
up by archives dating from the 13th and
14th centuries.
It’s important to note that even though these
‘biting wines’ weren’t the bubbles we know today,
these reports represent what Archetti defines as
“the first scientific codification of a non-still wine
(even if not in a bottle)”. And that already in the
Middle Ages, thanks to innovations in fermentation
techniques, “a ‘fizzy’ wine was being created” in the
hills Franciacorta.
Even more importantly, Archetti’s research and
text disclose that there is a long, solid tradition of
inventive winemaking in Franciacorta, and that
above all this small geographical area has long been
known for the quality of its wines.
16
These days, Franciacorta is often compared to
Champagne because the two wines use the same
bottle-fermentation method and primary grape
varieties. But the comparisons end there and today
the best Franciacortas have their own identity.
The combination of avant-garde winemakers, their
wide-scale commitment to organic viticulture, an
increased focus on reducing (and even eliminating)
dosage and promising experiments with a recently
revived native grape are yielding stunning, terroir-
driven sparklers.
Unique growing area
This relatively small area has historically been
called Franciacorta, a derivation of Curtes Francae,
referring to the zone’s 13th century tax-free
trade status. Designating a stretch of land between
Brescia and Lake Iseo, the name Franciacorta
first appeared in documents from 1266 and 1277
and today the denomination encompasses 19
townships in Lombardy’s Brescia province. Retreating
glaciers created Franciacorta’s amphitheater-
shaped growing zone and left behind mineral-rich
soils of morainic origin. Bordering with Lake
Iseo in the north, the rolling hills benefit from a
17
 warm, almost Mediterranean microclimate tempered
by cooling breezes that descend from foothills
M o n te I s o l a
of the Rhaetian Alps further to the northeast.

Sulzano

Besides its vicinity to the lake, Franciacorta’s

P i l zo n e micro-climate is a result of winds originating
L AGO D ’I S EO
S a r n i co from the nearby mountains. These strong breezes
Cl u s a n e IS EO Po l a ve n o bring fresh air at night, generating pronounced
PA R ATI CO
day and night temperature changes that encourage
Crem i gn an e TORBIERE
optimal grape ripening. The winds also helpkeep
DEL M. Co gn o l o Gaina
M.Alto

grapes healthy, which assists the denomination’s

Co l o m baro SEBINO
P i an o
me Ogli o Timoline del l e vi ti Foina
C A PR I O LO CO RTE Brione
PROVAG L IO
FR A N C A
N i go l i n e
B o n o m el l i
D ’ISEO
P rovezze
MONTICELLI
BRUSATI
producers who practice organic viticulture. Organic
A farming in the area began in 1998, when the Barone
OME
Pizzini firm switched to organic viticulture and for
B o rgo n ato
AADRO
D RO
PALAZZOLO
Camignone
San Pancrazio
Torbiato Mo n tero to n do years this was Franciacorta’s only organic winery.
Z occo
RO D EN G O
Navezze
Fast-forward to today and nearly 70% of the
SA I A N O
denomination’s vineyards are either certified organic
A4
ER B U S CO PAS S IR ANO
Padergnone Ronco
zzolo Stella
B o r n ato
Oglio
Vil l a
Pe de rgn an o
Cal i n o

PA D ER N O
or in the conversion process.
La Co s ta FR A N C I ACO RTA G US SAG O C EL L ATI C A
CAZ Z AG O
COLOG N E M.Orfan
M . O r fa n oo SAN M ART INO Colleb eato

B arco
ROVATO

CO CC AG L IO B R ES C I A
ROVATO OSPITALETTO Franciacorta boasts rich fruit flavors, a result of the
O s p italet to Mandolossa
overall balmy climate, while loose, Morainic soils ensure
A4
MILANO
VENEZIA
Franciacorta is never too high in alcohol. Though they
Chiari
VENEZIA
offer great freshness, they don’t have the aggressive
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
acidity of many sparklers hailing from cooler climates.

18 19
Like wine producers across the globe, Franciacorta’s
growers and winemakers are noticing the effects
of climate change, with warmer, drier summers
pushing acidity levels lower. Vineyard management
is crucial, especially working the soil to encourage
roots to reach further down to water and nutrients
far below the surface. Managing the leaf canopy to
protect grapes from sunburn and encourage optimal
photosynthesis is also fundamental. Experiments
with a recently revived native grape, Erbamat, is also
showing promise in raising acidity levels.
Grapes
Chardonnay is the undisputed Queen of Franciacorta
– accounting for over 80% of the 3,101 ha
(7,662 acres) of the denomination’s vineyards –
followed by Pinot Nero (15%) and Pinot Bianco
(5%). A number of producers are investing
in Erbamat, a rare grape native to the Brescia area,
that’s showing promising results in raising acidity
levels, which is becoming increasingly important as
higher summer temperatures and drought become
more common across the globe.
20
Chardonnay imparts fruit, elegance and richness.
Thanks to the growing zone’s microclimate,
Chardonnay delivers juicy, yellow stone fruit
flavors that become more tropical in warmer years.
It’s the main grape in most Franciacortas but plays
the major role in Satèn, the soft, creamy sparkler
made only with white grapes and lower bottle
pressure. A registered trademark of Franciacorta,
most producers use exclusively Chardonnay for Satèn
although a few also blend with a little Pinot Bianco.
Pinot Nero on the other hand lends the wines
structure, depth and personality. A number of
wineries are increasing their Pinot Nero plantings
but since it’s a fickle, sensitive grape, it can
only be cultivated in select areas that offer just
the right growing conditions.
21
 Most producers have eliminated Pinot Bianco.
Some say it’s too difficult to cultivate while
others maintain it’s too neutral, but a few of
my favorite Franciacortas have Pinot Bianco in
the blend. In its best expressions, Pinot Bianco
lends floral aromas and citrusy notes that can
intensify Franciacorta’s finesse.

As part of a campaign to forge its own identity

and to combat the effects of climate change,
the Consorzio and several producers have
been jointly experimenting with native grape
Erbamat, which was already cited by Agostino
Gallo in his Renaissance writings under its name
back then, Albamatte. In contrast to early ripening
varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot
Bianco, Erbamat is a late ripening variety,
with higher acidity levels. A few years ago I had
a fascinating tasting of several experimental
sparklers made with varying amounts of Erbamat
and they revealed added vibrancy and intriguingly
focused mineral sensations. Starting with the
2017 vintage, up to 10% Erbamat can be used.
Unfortunately, the devastating frosts of April
2017 damaged many of the young plants,

22 23
but producers haven’t been deterred and more
plantings and clonal research are well underway.
Styles
Franciacorta comes in several categories. While Satèn
is made with only white grapes and rosé must have a
minimum of 35% Pinot Nero, the different versions
are determined by how much time the wine stays on
its lees during secondary bottle fermentation. The
non-vintage Franciacorta must spend a minimum of
18 months on the lees, Satèn and Rosé at least 24
months, vintage wines a minimum of 30 months
while Riservas at least 60 months. Vibrant, non-
vintage Franciacorta is the quintessential bottling,
perfect for an aperitivo while vintage bottlings
and especially the Riservas, boast complexity
and longevity.
Dosage
Franciacorta’s different styles also depend on their
dosage – the mix of base wine and sugar – added
after disgorging. Zero Dosage is the driest while
Demi-sec is the sweetest. Brut – the most common
and versatile of the range – allows for up to 12 grams
24
per liter of sugar, but most producers keep levels
far below, around 7 grams, with some even lower.
One of the most compelling movements in the
denomination is the increasing number of Dosage
Zero bottlings. Thanks to the area’s favorable growing
conditions, grapes usually reach ideal maturation
that makes relying on dosage for added optional but
necessary. The array of names for this style, including
Pas Dosé, Dosaggio Zero and Nature may be a bit
confusing, but the best are bone-dry, with an almost
knife-like precision. Boasting structure and finesse,
they’re loaded with energy, flavor and character,
featuring pristine fruit and savory mineral notes.
Of all the different versions, Dosaggio Zero is the
purest expressions of Franciacorta’s terroir.
Kerin O’Keefe
25
Kerin O’Keefe is an award-winning author and wine critic.
Born and raised north of Boston, she graduated with honors
from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst where she
earned a degree in English literature.

Shortly after graduating, she moved to Italy where she became

a certified sommelier. She began writing about Italian wine
in the early 2000s and has been the Italian Editor for Wine
Enthusiast Magazine since April 2013. Before this, she
wrote regularly on Italian wine for Decanter and World of
Fine Wine and was a Contributing Editor for Wine News
Magazine from 2003 until 2009.

She is the author of three books: Franco Biondi Santi,

Il gentleman del Brunello (2004, Veronelli Editore. She also
penned the English version in 2005.), Brunello di Montalcino
– Understanding and Appreciating One of Italy’s Greatest
Wines (University of California Press, 2012) and Barolo and
Barbaresco – The King and Queen of Italian Wine (University of
California Press, 2014).

O’Keefe has won several awards for her work: her book
on Franco Biondi Santi, The Gentleman of Brunello
is a recipient of a Gourmand Wine Books Award. In
2008 she was awarded the Premio Consorzio Brunello
di Montalcino for her cover article “Brunello de-con-
structed” in the Oct-Nov 2007 issue of The Wine News
and in 2016 she won the Premio Collio for her article,
Collio’s Crown Jewels, published in the April issue of
Wine Enthusiast. She was named Honorary Knight by the
Ordine dei Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini di Alba in 2017.
In 2019, she became the first Voice of Barbaresco.

26 27
28 29
 “
Wine makes
“
the heart of man
happy

From the book of Psalms

Pslam 104,15
“Bible”
W
FRANCIACORTA:
FROM THE LAND
TO WINE
Within the region of Franciacorta,
particularly within the second
half of the 19th century, historical
and scholarly contributions increased
significantly with a large focus on the
territory’s roots and culture in an effort
to create a sense of national unity.
32
With the onset of the 20th century, these studies
began increasing their reach into ecclesiastical
institutions through the launch of research
on deaneries, parishes, religious foundations,
and more specifically, on larger monasteries.
Because of this new area of focus, especially
across the extensive cloisters and in
the Benedictine Abbeys such as Santa Giulia
of Brescia and the Cluniac Priories, there was
a decision to concentrate on the origins
of the Franciacorta area, as its boundaries
seemed to be closely linked to current politics
and medieval society.
33
 A renewed interest in this territory arose
again toward the end of the 1960s, thanks
to the influx of Transalpine “nouvelle histoire”
and the attention on regional municipalism
which continued to gain hold in the definition
of this new national Italian profile. In 1967,
this attention, from an economic-productive
point of view, solidified in the ministerial
decree which then became the Guidelines
for the Production of Controlled and Guaranteed
Denomination Wines under the “Franciacorta”
name. It was herein, the historical and geographic
boundaries of the region, that the concept of
Franciacorta evolved and took on a new institutional
and regulatory connotation, surpassing historical
attribution, and became part of the collective
consciousness.
Because of this evolution, the term “Franciacorta”
began to identify not just that area to the west
of the province of Brescia bordered by the Mella
and Oglio rivers, by Lake Iseo and by the Morainal
Alpine foothills to the north and the high Padana
Plains and Mount Orfano to the south, but even
more so it was a list of the towns included
under the vinicultural guidelines.
The following towns were included within
the governmental outline: Adro, Capriolo,
Cazzago San Martino, Cellatica, Coccaglio,
Cologne, Corte Franca, Erbusco, Gussago, Iseo,
Monticelli Brusati, Ome, Paderno Franciacorta,
34
Paratico, Passirano, Provaglio d’Iseo,
Rodengo-Saiano and Rovato. The other towns in
the area were excluded because, due to historic
and political-administrative traditions along with
geographic placement, they had played a role not only
in the medieval ages but also in the modern age.
This was, without question, not the first time
that the region had been divided internally.
The first use of the Franciacorta name in the
archival papers, are, though not before
the 13th century, enough proof to dismiss
the fantastical hypotheses that attempt to assign it
with an even older ancestry. What remains is one
section of a territory that is partly different from
its current status. In fact, it was not the Monastic
“French Courts” that created the political backdrop,
but rather the relationships between the cities and the
rural areas.
The oldest documents that include the word
Franciacorta are a procedural document dated to
somewhere around 1266 and a clause from the
Statutes of Brescia dated 1277 which records
a situation that occurred a few years prior. Various
rural communities, located beyond the Mella river
heading toward Lake Iseo, were ordered to repair
the Mandolossa Canal “for their use [that is, by the
town and citizens of Brescia] and for all the friends
of Francia Curta as listed below.” The provisions
35
 were repeated by a subsequent civil statutory order
dated 1280, found in the city’s Liber potheris of the
13th century, where the refacing and maintenance
of the Crotte Bridge over the Mella river, during
winter, were assigned to those towns located along the
Pedemontanara Roadway that ledfrom the outer city
limits to the Valcamonica in exchange for significant
tax exemptions.
This means that in the 13th century,
the region of Franciacorta included those towns
along the strata nova heading to Iseo which,
from the western border with Brescia, ran alongside
the lake and continued toward Valcamonica,
beginning from Collebeato and Urago
and ending up at Iseo and Zone. This was in line
with the urban expansion policies of the area
following the Peace of Constance (1183).
36
Subsequently, with the assignment of Emperor
Federico Barbarossa’s autonomy over those towns
along the Lega Lombarda, the city was authorized to
extend its jurisdiction into the surrounding territory,
that is, into the ancient comitatus or county. It was
during this time and within the same economic-
administrative and socio-political context, that the
region of Franciacorta was created, along with its
initial territorial boundaries.
These boundaries were established to ensure that the
city would have supplies of raw materials from the
valley (iron, partially worked goods, wood, animals,
wool, dairy products, etc.), safety for merchandise and
people traveling in the area, and the maintenance of
travel routes, including the bridge over the Mella river
which allowed access into the city from the direction
of Sebino. While these boundaries responded to the
37
 demands of urban supplies, which were different These boundaries continued to exclude the Sebino
from today’s demands, other decisions were made by area and the shared valleys, which were considered
political authorities outside of the Brescia area and the foundations of the “separated lands,”
were determined by the changing needs of territorial such as the pianura, and no longer applied the
control. These other decisions came about when, economic-commercial context which had originally
still during the middle ages, the Viscounts of Milan been assigned to the city of Brescia.
enlarged their reign over Brescia during the first
half of the 14th century and divided the occupied
territory into new administrative and fiscal districts. Without unityor a political center,
Franciacorta continued autonomously
across the centuries, even though
These intermediary jurisdictional districts, so called a Venetian source indicated that in the
“quads,” included numerous minor residential 15th century, the only possible
centers or rural communities, leaving the immediate “caput Francecurte” was
surrounding areas of Lake Iseo, the pianura and the in the town of Rovato.
mountains, to themselves. Because of these divisions,
Franciacorta was included within the “quads”
of Gussago and Rovato. The towns of these same
names acted as district capitals, though they never
had a single geographic, administrative or political
center of reference. After 1426, when the Republic
of Venice, the Serenissima, took over control of
Brescia from Milan, it continued this division and
maintained it until its dissolution in 1797. It was
during this renewed organization that the two initial
“quads” were joined by the Palazzolo quad,
which created the boundariesusing the Brescia
border against those of the Bergamo border,
along the Oglio river.

38 39
A
AN ANCIENT
VINICULTURE
Among agricultural crops, vineyards take on a
central role in the farming culture of the Lombardy
area so much so, that from the beginning
of the middle ages it characterizes
the Franciacorta economy. The vine remains
a constant from prehistoric times, as seen
in the fossil findings of vitis vinifera.
Still, the absence of other documents
40
makes it impossible to understand how it was
cultivated, the extension of what was cultivated, the
vineyard varieties, wine diversity and, obviously,
consumption. It is easy to note, though, how a
large part of the historic summaries associated with
antiquity, as seen in tourist guides, presented in
the numerous “histories” of wine (even those of
higher levels), or by any of the websites specifically
associated with the territory, especially commercial
websites, do not venture far from generic or
anecdotal type musings.
In contrast, research over the last few decades
has shed light on significant findings regarding
the medieval period, that when compared to the
41
 Italian and European ampelography, they outline
very different developments of the area. The most
important new information came, first, from
monastic documents. These were especially found
in those of the powerful women’s abbey of Santa
Giulia of Brescia where records between the 8th
and 9th centuries identify the best vineyards of
the Benedictine Monastery along the slopes of the
Morainal hills which run from Lake Iseo to the
gateways of Brescia.
These were vineyards located inside the curtes
(holdings), that is, very extensive agricultural lands
where vines were among the most prevalent crops
and strongly concentrated in those areas that were
under direct control of the nuns. In the detailed
asset inventory noted as “polittico”, a parchment
scroll measuring various meters in length dating
42
from the first few years of the 10th century, the
quantity of wine obtained in the dominicum was
greater than the amount produced across all
of the other Dominican monastic holdings spread
throughout Italy. These specialized production units
were located in Brazago (the urban areas beyond
the Mella river), Griliano (the hills of Gussago),
Timoline (Corte Franca), Canelle (Erbusco),
Borgonato (Corte Franca), Iseo, Castegnato
and Cellatica.
These farmlands and vineyard plantings, already
much earlier than the year 1000, had been
established in areas where vineyard cultivation
was plentiful, finding significant confirmation
in recent years through zoning studies conducted
by agronomists and geologists. A comparison
of soil analysis with archival data found that
43
 the best sites for vineyards coincided with those
worked by the Benedictine Colonies. This means
that direct empirical experimentation favored
the acquisition of necessary informational
competencies to increase the productive
potential of the various terrains
and identification of the most suitable cultural sites.
This does not mean that vineyards were not
spread elsewhere, but rather that in these zones,
identified also in large part within the Guidelines
of 1967, written documentation confirms
the continuity of a cultivation over centuries
that rarely finds such ancient and uninterrupted
historical records.
With the economic renewal of the 11th century
and subsequent demographic development,
vineyards underwent strong growth. At the same
time, vineyard expansion into the Pedemontana
area, especially in those better exposed hilly areas,
was focused on an early production focused
at a higher level compared to the traditional
mixed viticulture.
The economic-patrimonial sources associated with
the Cenobitic foundations, the new ones arising
from Cluny (Rodengo, Cazzago, Provaglio, Clusane,
San Paolo del lago, etc.) and from Vallombrosa
44
(Badia), but also those already in place (Santa Giulia
di Brescia, San Benedetto di Leno, San Faustino
Maggiore or San Cosma e Damiano di Brescia), as
well as Episcopalian and lay people, offer an accurate
outline of this farming practice.
A mapping allowed tracking of the incredible range
of viticulture and a recording of the financial value.
It suffices to remember that the funds raised from
duties associated with wine were the second item,
after grains, listed as income in the city’s financial
statement.
It was during this process that the terms ronco
and roncare take on a technical meaning to indicate
a forested or unfarmed area which has been tilled
for planting as a vineyard and its presence in the
archival documents becomes synonymous with
“vineyard terrain,” or rather “vineyard”. This was
always a financially advantageous investment
because, among the various crops, the vineyard was
always considered to be the highest earner.
45
 From 1170 – 1180, new vines were introduced
from the Balkan and eastern regions, differing from
the local native varieties. This is first due to the
schiava, and then due to the groppello, which were
soon after joined by luglienga, vernaccia, trebbiano,
marzemino and then malvasia, moscatello and so on.

under specialized cultivation. The local topography

These were pre-Phylloxera varieties which are not
easily traced or comparable to today’s varieties.
The information gathered is largely confirmed
both in the documentation from secular
aristocracy as well as in the ecclesiastical archives,
not to mention documents from larger noble
families,city halls, episcopate, town centers
and monastic and religious foundations.
The larger pioneering in varietal findings involves,
the schiava vines and the nostrano production,
that is, a fermentation done with different grapes,
that is from albi and vermigli vines, reds and whites,
which better responded to the era’s demands,
especially in terms of quantity rather than
quality, and were adapted to handle years of irregular
production.
confirms the wide-spread extension of tilling and
the name of the vines accounts for the farming of
specialized crops that were very profitable.
Justification of this development, at times
imposing and unorganized, came
from growing market demands linked
to the increase in civil needs based
on demographic growth.
The hilly areas surrounding
the city at this point underwent
such cultural pressure thatthe
spread of the “ronco” or
“ronchi” toponym is still
applicable today.

The parchments from the Rodengo priory, for

example, track the progression of taking over
forested lands to till them for planting new vineyards

46 47
 This piece-meal distribution was productive up until The quality of the terrain, too, in its sun-drenched
the present day, with just a few setbacks, and only hills, the fields protected by the flanks
since the end of the 19th century in those less of Mount Orfano against the cold and humid
suitable areas, due to the decrease in demographic winds that came off the plains, the soil conditions,
pressure. and the microclimate supported by the lake, all
of which combined uniquely that resulted in the
success of viticulture in Franciacorta.
Franciacorta’s cultural specialization can be found
in the multiple and voluminous documental data
that make it impossible to create a defined list: from
Adro to Borgonato, from Erbusco to Rodengo, from
Monticelli to Paratico, from Rovato to Timoline,
to Bornato, Calino, Cazzago, Camignone, Iseo,
Provaglio, Passirano, Paderno, Saiano, Ome,
Gussago, Coccaglio, Cologne, etc., the entire
middle ages represents the complete blossoming of a
cultivation that continues to be a unique section of
the entire territory.

In Franciacorta it wasn’t just vineyards that were

cultivated; in fact, vineyards were raised almost
everywhere, but its cultivation was specialized, and
the varieties were focused, compared to the rest of
the surrounding countryside.

48 49
T
WINE ACCORDING
TO CONFORTI
This naturally privileged region, which has never failed,
led over the last few decades, to a rediscovery of the
Libellus de vino mordaci, a 16th century treatise
from Brescian physician and scholar Girolamo Conforti
(1519-1595) and was printed in Brescia in 1570
by Tommaso Bozzola. The interest in the treatise has
50
kept pace, or rather was even encouraged,
by viticultural developments over the last half
century, echoing what had already been written
by Isean patriot and author Gabriele Rosa
(1812-1897) in the middle 1800s:
“No visitor to the most beautiful and gracious
areas of upper Italy, none of the oenophiles
of this part of our bel paese, [beautiful country]
can ignore the name and location of Franciacorta,”
where, “the greatest finding, without question,
is the wines which are made excellently
and darkly, and whites and fresh that
we call young and sweet”.
Therefore, the cultural roots of these productions
are deep and justified in the history of cenobiums,
parishes, castles and of medieval towns,
surrounded by well cultivated vineyards
51
 and high-quality vines, as detailed above.
In considering the success of the “Franciacorta,”
however, it seems appropriate to ask whether
there has ever been a production of “bubbly,”
“young” or “biting” wine, however long ago
and different, but that may foreshadow
today’s wine. The findings in the ancient
Conforti document seem to be an affirmative
response, even if the contents of his work
seem to be true only partially.
In fact, production of this type of wine
has historic evidence and the consumption
of wine was already highly regarded
across the Brescia countryside back
in the middle ages.
At the same time, it is more complex
to consider that the medical-health
reasons outlined by the Brescian scholar
regarding the quality of the “biting” wine,
although greatly appreciated by the people
even in those times, were deemed by the medical
establishment to be “extremely dangerous
and toxic” to one’s health.
A degree of interpretation is needed here,
so as to avoid misunderstanding the statements
made by this doctor from Brescia.

“Nature has given man nothing more

useful than wine.” These are the encouraging
words of timeless knowledge and classical
agronomy that open the Libellus de vino
mordaci treatise by Girolamo Conforti,

52 53
54 55
 an important statement that explains
the value of the fermented grape during
the late Renaissance whose use,
on the coattails of ancient and medieval
convictions, went far beyond the primary
function of the beverage.
Wine, in effect, was considered no less than
a consumable that could not be substituted
in nutrition, a tonic and restorative
for growth, a disinfectant and relief
in pharmacopoeia, a means for relaxation
and socializing, and, thanks to its inebriating
qualities, an instrument when life
is overwhelming.
If one thinks, then, that drinking wine
is healthier than drinking water,
due to its alcoholic fermentation
and that its use was wide-spread across
all ages from infancy to the elderly,
it can be understood how the subject
of wine has always attracted the attention
of cultured people, of those in the sciences
and agronomy, including researchers
in medical areas.

To understand the content of the Libellus,

the theoretical principles and evaluation
criteria used in antiquity must be taken into
consideration, along with the understanding
that the view of wine and other foods was,
in part, different from ours, even though taste
and color were and still are, real parameters

56 57
 of reference used for assigning productive
and commercial classifications.
The Aristotelian physics vision of the nature
and its mechanisms were applicable here.
Without this theoretical basis, Conforti’s
arguments and evaluations that go beyond
the properties and qualities of the wines can,
at the most, appear “curious,” but they remain
completely incomprehensible and abstruse.
Beginning with the pre-Socratic philosophers,
the composition of the cosmos
and materials was based on the theory
of the four elements (earth, water,
air and fire) and in turn was modulated
according to the four qualities
(dry, humid,cold and hot).
At the same time, the four humors,
or body fluids (black bile, yellow bile,
phlegm, blood), influence human health
and temperament, based on the excess
or absence of them in the body.
Over the centuries, these convictions
permeated habits and daily living,
deeply affecting the style and practice
of behavior across all social strata.
Based on this cosmological quaternity,
the composition of nature was also modulated.
It applied to the organization of both
animate and inanimate objects, the four seasons
of the year, the various phases of existence,
the four virtues, and so on. In the summer,
58
for example, a season marked by dry heat,
it was preferable to consume foods and drinks that
offered opposing humoral characteristics, that is,
things that were cold and wet.
This way, it would allow the body to reach,
as much as possible, a “temperate” status,
that is balanced, in response to the
combination of the various elements.
In the winter, on the other hand,
a person was to focus on foods
that were warm, to correct
one’s naturally cold status.
And during the
intermediate seasons,
or during other
phases of the year,
the same way
as in life itself,
one was to tend
toward temperate
nutrition, distancing
from excesses and balancing
the components.
These general guidelines directed
the dietary rules prior to Conforti’s time.
59
 They were applied by physicians and largely
followed even at the popular level, as confirmed
by the success and distribution of the regimina
and tacuina sanitatis.
It was at the University of Padova, an academy
and research center for physicians from
across Europe, where Conforti perfected
his awareness of Aristotelean physics,
as applied to medicine, thanks to the brilliant
teachings of professors such as Girolamo
Mercuriale (1530-1606) and especially
Vincenzo Maggi (1498-1564).
In particular, he realized that the reality
of natureis revealed through the senses,
and that the two fundamental principles
of recognition are “hot” and “cold.”
The first creates a dilating action, making things
lighter and putting them into movement.
The second produces condensation, making
things heavy and contributing to their stagnation.
The sun is, in its totality, hot, and the earth is cold.
But the sun, like everything that burns,
is not just heat, and in the same way,
the earth cannot exclusively be considered cold.
Hot and cold are physical realities and demand
solid material elements to which they can attach,
and their varying combinations create
the foundations of things along with
their humoral constitution.
The difference in wines, therefore, arises from
the changing aggregation of elements and qualities.
60
The awareness of this, from a medical point
of view, does not indicate only properly
conducting an analysis of the product,
but even more so, identifying that which
may be more or less suitable for the health
of the patient based on his or her
personal constitution.
These brief observations lead to the idea
that mordace wine, as described in the Libellus,
was significantly different from what is grown
in Franciacorta or really any wine with bubbles.
As such, it is not possible to track a direct
foreshadowing of the production
of effervescent wines that are available
on today’s market.
Interest in the “bitingness” of Conforti’s
fermentations began from a point of view
that differed from our oenological one,
and his vision of nature and medical focus
was different too. What was important to him
was not how to achieve a sparkling wine,
but whether the sparkling wine would be
beneficial or damaging to human health
based on its properties. The negative conclusion
that he reached, then, is the result of his
medical-scientific presumptions and initial
philosophies, lacking any absolute value.
This explains how experimental studies,
and later improved knowledge,
lead to evaluating these fermentations
in a completely different manner.
61
 It would therefore be in error to deem
his opposition to a spicy wine as a negation
of the value in “sparkly” wines and the
possibility of using them for consumption.
Obviously, this was rejected by the market
and by consumers. All the same, comparing
his to the other agronomy treatises
of the same era, the text is, undoubtedly,
of great interest.
Firstly, because it confirms the attention
that was aimed at mordaci fermentations
during the Renaissance period,
and secondly because sparkling wines
found space, for the first time,
in a medical-dietary document,
confirming how its importance
actually grew even in the health sector.
62
It is no coincidence, then, that the treatise
can be viewed in light with what
in the agronomy field was being done
by other Brescian scholars, such as
Agostino Gallo (1499-1570) or Camillo
Tarello (1513-1573), who were also
of great notoriety and intelligence.
Conforti’s reflections can be inserted,
then, into a scientific-cultural humus
of significant intellectual vivacity,
open to experimentation and the
technically innovative empirical
trials in the field of vinification.
63
A
64
THE CONTRIBUTIONS
OF AGOSTINO GALLO

Among the major players in Renaissance

agronomy, working from his Brescian pianura
holdings of Pompiano, Borgo Poncarale
and Manerbio, Agostino Gallo knew how
to marry the principles of traditional
agronomy with the more advanced
forms of experimental irrigated
agriculture in the Val Padana.
This is an indispensable factor to understand his
oenological thought process. It made him a point
of reference and, among the greatest European
authors of treatises on agronomy, he was able to
influence the entire agronomic system, following
the lead of the late medieval Pier de’ Crescenzi
(1233-1320) of Bologna. This is evidenced
by the later printings of his works, in fact sixteen
of them in the 1500s, and their reception
in France, where only very few foreign texts
were ever translated, thanks to the accurate
and multiple edited versions of the work done
by François de Belleforest (1530-1583).
It was Le dieci giornate della vera agricoltura,
e piaceri della villa, [The ten days of true
agriculture and the pleasures of the villa]

65
 appearing in Brescia in 1564 by the printer
Giovanni Battista Bozzola that made
Gallo a celebrity. This document outlines
the activities of an agrarian holding
in a dialogical manner, separating them
into distinct work “days” along with
the benefits of living in the country.
The immediate success of the text brought
the work to a new edition and a revision which,
for editorial reasons, was initially extended into
thirteen days, Tredici giornate (Venice 1566),
and the second edition was integrated with
an appendix of seven days (Venice 1569).
It was then distributed to printers in
a completely revised version in 1572 under
the title The Twenty Days of Agriculture
and Pleasures of the Villa, Le venti giornate
dell’agricoltura et de’ piaceri della villa,
a real work of art that offered agricultural
knowledge in a personal version. This version
applauded the “true intelligence” of Brescians,
developed out of the hard work needed
to make the terrains fertile and harvest
any type of fruit. It outlined the enjoyment
of this occupation for the human spirit which,
in letting go of the “grand expectations”
of the city, was able to better taste
“the true needs, the appreciated freedom,
with honest comforts and joyous deliciousness”
of the countryside and the ability to remain
at peace in rural tranquility.
66
There are many themes associated with
“true cultivation” by Brescian farmers.
They range from the type of pianura
and mountain fields to the rotation systems,
from the farmer’s work to farming practices
(plowing, harrowing, seeding, haying, threshing,
picking, harvesting, pruning, tilling, hoeing, etc.),
from raising dairy products to cereals and grains
to forage plants, from corn to rice, from silk
worms to Garda citrus fields, from olive groves
to vineyards, from managing orchards a
nd gardens to rural buildings and so on.
In the 1564 edition, the third day is entirely
dedicated to vineyard practices and the varieties
of grapes. It begins withthe botanical
description of the vine and its fruits,
“soft, tender and in multiple pieces.”
The terrains suitable for vineyards are examined,
along with the techniques for doing so,
the regional differences and the damaging habits
to be avoided. It also illustrates the practices
of pruning, grafting, and fertilizing,
all the way to the nature of the grape most
suitable for the Lombardy territory.
Among the white grapes, in first position
are the trebbiane, that create abundant wine,
then the cropelle resulting in a gentile wine,
the schiave that mature before the others
“making much fruit and gentile wine,”
the albamatte witha later maturation,
the bugarelle that develop into a “very soave”
wine, and finally the bonimperghe.
67
 The text focuses on the types most suitable
“in gardens for eating, for drying
and for making good drinks,” such as
the vernacce bianche that are “perfectly green
and dry and for making delicate beverages,”
especially if grown hillside such as done
in Cellatica and Limone.
For table eating, there are the moscatelle bianche,
whose wine is excellent if given great exposure
to sunlight, while the moscatelle nere
are not as suitable for wine making
even though they are delicate on the palate.
The alliane, with early maturation and ready
for harvest by the end of July are also
worthy of cultivation. The same degree
of sweetness is found in the malvasie bianche,
“but their wine is far from the abundance
of the eastern.” The duracine bianche
68
are extremely delicate and hold out until Carnevale
and Easter, while the brumestre nere are the last
to mature, with long bunches and large grapes
that create a beautiful scene in gardens and can be
stored for many months. The white quality,
perfect in hilly areas, is very delicate
and can be easily maintained.
Finally, there is the marina nera, seedless
and thus it took over for the eastern raisin.
It is eaten when mature or left to dry,
but it is not optimal for wine making
because of its low alcohol content which
makes its wine more suitable for those who
are ill, such as for children and even for babies.
Its cultivation is preferred up against farmhouse
walls, in orchard rows, within pergolas
or joined with trees. If left to dry, it is perfect in
69
70 71
 pasta fillings, in pie and cake fillings,
or to accompany red and white meats.
In dietary practice it is suggested for “lubricating
the body, settling the stomach and renewing taste.”

The fourth of the ten days is completely

devoted to the preparation of wine.
From harvest to cleaning wine containers,
the way to make wine under different regional
conditions to the cantinas for aging,
the techniques for transforming and handling
fermentations as well as sanitation and aging.
Without going into the detailed explanations,
interest grew beginning even from the initial
observations on the phases of harvesting.
When harvesting grapes that are still not ripe,
there will be “extremely delicate wines.”
If the grapes are too ripe, the fermentation
will develop with less flavor and complexity.
Great care must be taken in separating grapes
that are unripe, hardened, moldy, dried or gone
bad from those that are healthy, and ensure
that leaves, straw and other detritus is removed.
The white varieties must be separated from
the pinks, “the gentile grapesfrom the large,”
and the sweet table grapes from the wine grapes.
But the fermentation process will illustrate
the difference between Italian wines
and French wines,responding to tastes
that are more modern from those that are
of Lombardy which, due to the longer
“boiling”of the pomace, they are turbid,
dark, acidic, alcoholic, and almost lackingin
any aroma and are damaging to health.
Against the popular trend toward “full wines”
and robust wines, a result of extended fermentation
in vats, there is the taste for clear, light and gentile
wines that are left to “boil” for just a short time.
These are considered by physicians to be healthier,
based on the medical-physical principles
and the relationship between
hot and cold, between the power
of the flame, the volatility
of the air, and the resistance
of the water in determining
the quality of the more
digestible, balanced
and flavored fermentations.
For this reason, observed
Gallo, “clear, red wines
are to be praised,
as they resemble
eastern rubies.”
Their preparation
had already entered
into the oenological

72 73
 practices of the well-irrigated Lombard fields
which allowed the wines to better store and remain
“with much better color, with better taste
and with greater goodness.” Examples of this
new oenology, similar to French and Hungarian
wines, were the cisioli or sforzati, produced
in the Brescian countryside.

74 75
76 77
I
“IN VILLA” NOBLE
ASCENDANCY
If significant vinicultural developments
were had through the selection of the varietals,
identification of the most suitable sites
and the import of specialized vines compared
to those in earlier cultivation, then the advances
in wine making systems were just as important.
This is as confirmed in the extraordinary
diversity of the fermentations, which are just
as spectacular as those found in today’s winebars,
and in Gallo’s agrarian process. Among significant
oenological developments there was that of the
78
“cisiolo,” compared by the Brescian agronomist
to the French “chiaretti,” appreciated on the tables
of the Lombard and Piemont aristocracy.
This was a straw-colored wine, as suggested
by the etymology of the term cisiolo. It is obtained
through the skinless fermentation of black grapes.
This method was adopted to polish the larger
production of red varieties into “potent” wines
which were more desirable and in fashion.
The must remaining from the pressing of the grapes
by feet was immediately separated also by the feet
and left to “boil” for a short time.
It was then poured into oak barrels, reinforced
with iron bands and waterproofed on the outside
using animal fat. To block fermentation,
79
 the containers were submerged into cisterns
full of water or left at the bottom of wells prior
to being left to rest in the cantina. The result was
a pleasant and gentle wine, tending toward sweet,
but most of all effervescent and, because
of its amiability, very appreciated.
News on its wine making was furnished
by Agostino Gallo, who explained that making
the cisiolo allowed the fermentation to remain
“fizzy for many months and as sweet”.
It lasted longer and grew “in goodness
when the year had passed”.
This technique produced “a white wine
even though it was from black grapes,
which remained sweet for the entire year,
as it was not allowed to boil”.
For this reason, he celebrated clear and brilliant
red wines which did not ferment for more
than three or four days, the same custom
of the French who did not drink “if not clear wines”.
According to his explanation, which found
support in the treatise by Conforti, the practice
was not new among the Brescian farmers who,
for centuries, as noted in the archives from
the twelve and thirteen hundreds, would
produce similar to the clear French
fermentations, so-called cisioli, which remained
“fizzy” or “biting” for many months.
Among the earnings recorded in the Episcopalian
mess hall of Brescia, found in the Episcopalian
80
curia treasury books, there is a list
of the supplies of this product:
the production zones, the quantities produced,
and the greater cost compared to common
fermentations and reds in general.
Various barrels, numbered with the letters
of the alphabet, contained a significant
quantity of “cisiolo,” barreled in the cantinas
of the Bishop of Brescia which was attached
to the cathedral.
They were identified according to the area
of provenance, that is, the vineyards
of the north-western boundaries of San Bartolomeo
and Sant’Eustachio, of Urago Mella, Collebeato
and Cellatica (but this is a detail limited
to the bishop holdings) and corresponded
to their different qualities, something that was
already being done since the 13th century.
Its commercial value was double that of the
common, or nostrano, red wine, and even
with the negative opinion of the physicians
who deemed it only slightly digestible
if consumed prior to the end of spring
in that it was still cold, Gallo saw, thanks
to his own personal experience, that it could
sustain this contrary view in that these wines
“the more they felt the heat the more
they became pleasing.”
In any case, his views on “fizzy” or “biting”
wines, discussed and distributed by other
later authors, represents the first scientific
81
82 83
84 85
 codification of a non-still wine (even if not
in a bottle), a type of fermentation that would
later enjoy huge success beginning in the
18th century, thanks to a French monk from
the San Pietro d’Hautvillers monastery.
The main argument in favor of the chiaretto
was obviously medical-dietary in nature.
This white wine was judged to be superior
to reds as it was more digestible, specifically
because it was clearer and lighter. These qualities
came from its shorter boiling, which tempered
the heat of the fermentation thanks to the cold
element, and due to the greater presence
of water starting with its cultivation on vines
in irrigated fields. There is one explanation
where it is easy to recognize Conforti’s
medical-dietary theories, although its results
on consumption were inconsequential.
The product was considered a status symbol
that, in reference to the TransAlpine fashion,
distinguished its noble consumers and their
lavish aristocratic tables.

For the gentleman who chose to live in a villa

in the country, Agostino Gallo, the expert
agronomist, suggested an elite beverage such
as the cisiolo, quite similar to the French chiaretto
and quite diverse from the common red wine
found on the tables of the padana [plains] farmers.
The treasures of Franciacorta offer deep roots
that sink into a land of choice and in the human
genius loci. From the historiographic point

86 87
 of view, it is not crucial to understand if they wine was being created, pleasant and straw-colored
come before or after those boasted by other that wasresistant over time and held in high regard.
European regions. It is, however, important This was thanks to the goodness of the lands
to be able to document an original oenological cultivated, the hills drenched in sunlight
tradition that, for sure since the 13th century, and the legendary micro climate.,
but most probably from much before, made it Even with all of the doubts listed by the oenologists
possible to easily produce sparkling and effervescent of our time and the different techniquesin use,
white wines which were more valued and desired this wine can beconsidered the most noble
compared to the wider distributed nostrani rubei, ancestor of Franciacorta.
adapted to represent the urban tastes of those
wanting to feel like nobles. It was on this solid
productive tradition, between the 15th and
16th centuries, that the French chiaretti became
a key player, and while it did not overtake
the habits found in the Brescia area,
it rather consolidated them, making them
in fact, a valid and competitive player
to celebrate noble society.

The mordace wine makes it possible to state

that prior to the trend of lighter fermentations,
in the manner of Gaul or Hungary, in Franciacorta
a wine was being created with similar properties:
the fruit of a refined oenological knowledge
and something that would pop and foam
upon opening. Because of this, it is not out of place,
nor lacking historical basis, to claim that prior
to the innovations occurringthrough fermentation
in bottles, it was on the Lombard hills,
and especially on those located between
theMella and Oglio rivers in Franciacorta,
that beginning in the middle ages, a “fizzy”

88 89
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92 93
94 95
96 97
98 99
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villa, Venice: at Nicolò Bevilacqua, 1566, Viganò FA 5B - 238
A. Gallo, Le tredici giornate della vera agricoltura e de’ piaceri della
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qualità, Records from the International Symposium (Siena/Italy, 19-
24 May, 1998), Siena 1999, pp. 43-54
Idem, Vigne et vin au Moyen Âge: l’exemple d’une région lombarde
type: Brescia, in Vins, vignobles et terroirs de l’Antiquité à nos jours,
Records from the Symposium in Reims (9 - 11 October, 1997)
seminar under the direction of V. Barrie, Nancy 1999, pp. 93-117
Idem, La vite in Lombardia in età medievale. Note storiografiche
sull’ultimo decennio di studi e ricerche, «Civiltà bresciana», IX, 1
(2000), pp. 3-45
“Libellus de vino mordaci” ovvero Le bollicine del terzo millennio,
edited by G. Archetti, Brescia 2001
G. Archetti, La viticoltura lombarda nel Medioevo, in Le piante
coltivate e la loro storia. Dalle origini al transgenico in Lombardia
nel centenario della riscoperta della genetica di Mendel, Records of
the Convention (S. Angelo Lodigiano, 24 June, 1999), edited by O.
Failla, G. Forni, Milano 2001, pp. 228-247
Idem, Là dove il vin si conserva e ripone. Note sulla struttura delle
cantine medievali lombarde, in Le storie e la memoria. In onore
di Arnold Esch, edited by R. Delle Donne, A. Zorzi, Firenze 2002
(Medieval Networks E-book, Reading 1), pp. 39-63
La civiltà del vino. Fonti, temi e produzioni vitivinicole dal
Medioevo al Novecento, Records of the VII Biennial of Franciacorta
(Monticelli Brusati - Antica Fratta, 5-6 October 2001), edited by
G. Archetti, in collaboration with A. Baronio, R. Bellini, P. Villa,
Brescia 2003
Idem, “Vineam noviter pastinare”. Note storiche sulla vite e sul
vino nella Liguria medievale, in “In terra vineata”. La vite e il vino
in Liguria e nelle Alpi Marittime dal Medioevo ai nostri giorni,
Records from the Research Symposium in Memory of Giovanni
Rebora (Taggia, 6-8 May 2012) edited by A. Carassale, L. Lo Basso,
Ventimiglia (Im) 2014, pp. 13-35
Idem, “Il vino non è per i monaci”. Appunti sparsi sugli usi monastici
antichi, in “Dulcius nil est mihi veritate”. Studi in onore di Pasquale
Corsi, edited by F. Monteleone, L. Lofoco, Foggia 2015, pp. 65-87

G. Archetti, Il vino nell’Europa medievale tra storia e storiografia, in Idem, I monaci a tavola: norme e consuetudini alimentari, in
Prosit. Excursus storico-archeologico su produzione e uso del vino in Gli spazi della vita comunitaria, Records from the International
Aquileia e in Friuli Venezia Giulia tra Antichità e Medioevo, edited Symposium (Rome-Subiaco 8-10 June 2015], edited by L. Pani
by S. Blason Scarel, Manzano-Aquileia 2005, pp. 152-167 Ermini, Spoleto 2016 (De re monastica, 5), pp. 305-327

G. Ragazzi, C’era una volta il torchio. Tecnologia arcaica e memoria Idem, Vite e vino nel medioevo. Note storiche sul territorio bresciano,
in Valcamonica, Afterword by R. Conti, Gianico (Bs), 2006 in Capriolo. Le radici e il territorio, Brescia 2017, pp. 26-51

G. Archetti, “Infundit vinum et oleum”. Olio e vino nella tradizione

monastica, in Olio e vino nell’alto medioevo, Spoleto, 20-26 April
2006, Spoleto 2007 (Research Weeks by the Italian Foundation We thank the Historical Funds and Archives Management of
Center on High Middle Ages Studies, LIV), pp. 1099-1209 Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Brescia for the collaboration
and kind concession of the texts.
Idem, “Solum in pane et aqua abstinere”. L’alimentazione a Fonte
Avellana al tempo di Pier Damiani, in Fonte Avellana nel secolo
di Pier Damiani, in Records from the XXIX Convention of the
Avellaniti Research Center (Fonte Avellana, 29-31 August 2007),
edited by N. D’Acunto, San Pietro in Cariano (Vr) 2008, pp. 179-
211

Idem, “Plantavit quoque vineam”. La viticoltura bresciana nel

medioevo, in Storia dell’agricoltura bresciana, edited by M. Belfanti,
M. Taccolini, I, Brescia 2008, pp. 91-120

Idem, Intorno all’origine della Franciacorta, in D.G.R. Carugati,

Berlucchi 1961-2011. Sogno e realtà: Franco Ziliani, pioniere in
Franciacorta, Milano 2012, pp. 16-19
GABRIELE
ARCHETTI

Full Professor of Medieval History in the Faculty of Educational

Sciences of the Catholic University, he is president of the Center
for Lombard Studies, established by the Lombardy Region, and of
the Cogeme onlus Foundation; curator of the Piamarta Museum,
he is a member of numerous cultural and associative institutions,
scientific councils and editorial committees; he has developed
and directed editorial series and collaborated with various
historical science journals He is the author of approximately
500 publications including monographs, essays and scientific
contributions, focusing on the history of food, agriculture and
material culture, which have appeared in Italy and abroad.

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Consorzio Franciacorta
Via Giuseppe Verdi, 53
Erbusco - Brescia, Italy

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