The history of Azienda Agricola Colline della Stella is first of all the story of the tenacity and resourcefulness of a young man, the then little more than twenty years old Andrea Arici, that in the second half of the 90s decided to try a long and hard work of recovery of some old vineyards between Cellatica and Gussago, in the easternmost area of Franciacorta To tell the truth, the area of Cellatica was famous for its red wines, and the local vineyards were entirely planted with Barbera, Marzemino or Schiava grapes; this, however, will not discourage Andrea who, together with his father Francesco, plant first Chardonnay and then Pinot Noir.
Andrea is not in a hurry: he starts from the first half hectare, growing less than one hectare per year and giving his grapes to the other local farms until 2002 when, tasting the base wines, he is so impressed by their quality that he decides to bottle them himself. These are savory wines and, above all, very fresh, almost “sharp”, which come from vineyards at the foot of the Brescian Alps, at an altitude higher than the average for Franciacorta, with a greater temperature difference between day and night. The soil does its part as well, because the calcareous marl is a rather poor habitat that forces the vine to develop in depth its root system, in search of nutrients. To exalt these two characteristics Andrea makes some decisions that still make his wines unmistakable: he lowers the yields to no more than 60/80 quintals per hectare, brings to 0 the dosage of all his wines and uses the bases of only one vintage per time.
Among the wines produced stands out Franciacorta UNO, a blend of Chardonnay (90%) and Pinot Noir (10%) which has a particular importance because it is the entry wine, the business card of the winery, the first wine with which a curious enthusiast deal with. Despite the viticulture of Andrea is based on zonation, in this wine come grapes from all 10 parcels in which it has divided its 13 hectares. Once harvested, pressed and fermented, the grapes rest in steel, on the fine lees, for six months and then make the tirage and be left to age for a period ranging from 18 to 30 months. After disgorgement, it takes another three months to wait before marketing.
The tasted sample showed a bright straw yellow color and an extremely fine perlage, with an olfactory fan that opens on notes of hawthorn, kumquat, Conference pear and bread crust, followed by medlar, chlorophyll, candied cedar and honey of strawberry tree, with final echoes of roasting and wet flint. The palate, of good and delicate creaminess, is crossed by a burst of citrine freshness that, flowing, also leaves room for a tasty mineral sapidity; all while the vegetable and yellow fruit return and accompany the sip until a good length closure.
Rating: 88/100
Want to find out what I can do for you? Click here!
