Bellavista Cuvee Brut

80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco. Of all the Bellavista wines, Franciacorta Cuvée best represents the regional and house style. Its balance lies in the combination of at least thirty selections, plus the addition of reserve wines to provide both vintage to vintage consistency and the taste of Casa Bellavista. Yellow with greenish highlights, the nose has notes of pear, white stone fruits and vanilla, leading to a balanced palate to finish round and soft with good length. TREMBATH & TAYLOR

I have been tasting wines since 1968, first as a serious amateur, and then, since 1978, as a professional critic. I can unequivocally state that this is one of the finest Italian sparkling wines I have ever had. It establishes a new reference point for this category in Italy. It would unquestionably hold its own in a blind tasting against the finest French Champagne ... something I always thought to be impossible. In short, it blew me away. The non-vintage Brut, is a blend of 80% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Noir, and 10% Pinot Bianco. It exhibits a refined bouquet of yeasty bread, dried apricots, pear, and citrus. This wine, which spent three years on its lees, is rich, fresh, medium-bodied, and long in the mouth, with tiny pinpoint bubbles and a lot of frothiness. ROBERT PARKER, The Wine Advocate 130