Castello Bonomi Franciacorta CruPerdu 2011 750ml (750ml)

Raspberries, cassis and gooseberries cavort on a bed of white flower petals, toasted brioche, peach jam, acacia honey and crushed river rocks in the captivating '11 Franciacorta Cru Perdu. Fine perlage tickles the palate, while the wine finds compelling tensions between its succulent fruits, vivid acidity, and penetrating minerality. Very dry and highly enjoyable, this Franciacorta wine might be your new favorite alternative to Champagne! In 1986, Castello Bonomi's chef de cave, Luigi Bersini, took a walk in the woods and found an abandoned vineyard. This 10-acre vineyard is the source of the wine's name and the grapes for Bonomi's most popular Franciacorta bottling, its CruPerdu. A blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir, grapes ferment in temperature-controlled steel and wood vats; part of the cuvee's second fermentation takes eight months in vats before blending and bottling, where the wine ages on the lees for 36 months.

Italy's answer to Champagne, Franciacorta DOCG is a 5,400-acre region located in Lombardia that's devoted to crafting methode champenoise sparkling wines, and Castello Bonomi is one of Franciacorta's rising stars. Part of the Casa Paladin family of estates (which also includes Bosco del Merlo and Castelvecchi), Castello Bonomi's scant 60 acres snuggle into a natural amphitheater situated the foothills at the base of Mount Orfano, located in the south of Franciacorta. Bonomi's terraced vineyards line steep hills, affording its ripening Chardonnay and Pinot Nero grapes a unique microclimate, as well as ideal drainage and sunlight. The Bonomi team relies on intense green harvests, strict grape yields, and severe sorting to provide the natural products for their elegant, mineral-laden, and terroir-driven Franciacorta wines, which have won multiple awards as well as many hearts and minds around the globe.