Ca' del Bosco Cuvée Prestige Extra Brut Franciacorta

Jenny Ratcliffe-Wright CWM rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

Quite delectably delicious. White flowers make this heady wine delicately feminine, while the toasted brioche, and clean apple finish give it power and stature The mousse is fine and persistent. A good rival for Champagne. Serve it with Parmesan baked ricotta and marinated olives. @wrightwineblog

L.J. Palmer WSET 3 rated this wine as 91/100 with the following review:

From Grandi Marchi Sept 2019 Ottawa: A traditional method sparkling wine made principally from Chardonnay, with lots of fine bubbles, medium lemon in colour and dry. Sweet lemon and yellow apple are the predominant aromas with floral and yeasty notes. Bright citrus and zest and apple are the main flavours all surrounded by the lovely bubbles.

David Skinner rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

Light golden colour with plenty of tiny bubbles - likely a result of fermentation in bottle rather than the tank method. A sumptuous blend (primarily chardonnay) that imparts layers of apple, pineapple, lemon, honey and toasty/nutty notes. Incredibly creamy mousse and tiers of flavor cascade with even more apple flavors and a kiss of honey in the lengthy finish

I'd put this up against foods with texture and medium intensity. A baked Brie for example or shellfish

Cora Beaulieu rated this wine as 90/100 with the following review:

This golden-hued sparkler is super light, fresh and has an attractive nose of exotic/tropical fruit, apple, fresh Meyer lemon, licorice & spearmint, with gentle toast aromas and a hint of hazelnut. Very lively but refined mousse. Crisp flavours of yellow apple, lemon, brioche, peach, and some mineral notes. The finish is long and clean. This is a Prosecco blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco made in the typical “Champagne Méthode” (25 months on the lees.) Great sipper or wonderful complement to any food. [Tasted Feb/2017]

Jennifer Havers rated this wine as 91/100 with the following review:

Updated in 2022: Beautiful tiny and persistent bubbles on the golden hued sparkler. Predominantly Chardonnay, this wine has fleshy ripe stone fruit and apple notes, mingled with honey and almonds. The mousse is fine and acidity is nice and crisp. Flavours are slightly rounded and nutty, the result of lees contact and malo lactic fermentation as opposed to any oak aging. This wine is made in the traditional method and aged 25 months in bottle. Usually we see Prosecco from Italy so this was a nice treat to taste and would be a great to try as a change from other traditional method sparkling. Enjoy with oysters or other seafood. Originally reviewed in Feb 2017.

Rachelle O'Connor rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

An amazing Franciacorta! Santa Margherita makes this with a blend of Chardonnay (75%), Pinot Bianca (10%) and Pinot Nero (15%). Truly pure elegance in a glass...a nose of floral, pear and honey with rich flavors of the same on the palate with added hints of apricot, stone fruit and brioche. Lovely mousse with persistent bubbles. The craft and care that goes into creating the final product is meticulous. Well done!

Mary Anne van Gaal rated this wine as 91/100 with the following review:

It is obvious a lot of tender loving care went into the production of this premium wine. From the meticulous selection of the grapes, to the washing and drying of the grapes in the "berry spa", to the oxygen free pressing machine to the 2 nd fermentation in the bottle there was a lot that contributed to this wines distinctive character.
The result is a golden yellow sparkling wine that is crispy and alive. It is sweet on the nose with floral honey aromas and peach and citrus flavours. Wonderful with anything creamy like rich Brie cheese, pasta dishes with white sauce or even a rich soufflé.
(Tasted Feb. 24, 2017)

Greg Hughes rated this wine as 90/100 with the following review:

This blend of Pinot Nero, Chardonnay, and Pinot Bianco comes from a part of the Lombardy region that has a long-standing reputation for traditionally made sparkling wine. It is made in a state-of-the-art winery; the Ca'Del Bosc house takes cleanliness very seriously. This wine sees just over two years aging on its yeast lees before being disgorged.
The wine was harvested at optimal ripeness. This is different than other sparkling regions, like Champagne, which generally tend to harvest less ripe to preserve acidity. That makes this sparkling much more broad on the palate. The addition of light, crisp Pinot Bianco is meant to counter this.
The colour is a bright golden colour and the bubbled are only moderately aggressive.
The aromas are full of buttered pastry dough, candied nuts, peach cobbler, and a smattering of other stone fruit. It smell like ripe oxidative Chardonnay, for sure.
The flavours are big and fat, with a clean zing from the Pinot inclusions. Apricot, peach, autolytic doughy characteristics, and with a slightly mineral finish. The flavours are quite concentrated.
The centrepiece of the winery is a patented machine used for the careful processing of the grapes. Ca'Del Bosco is a solid producer to explore Franciacorta through. They have a wide selection of value cuvees, like this one, but they also create more prestigious wines rivaling Champagne in quality and price.

Gwen Barton rated this wine as 90/100 with the following review:

Lovely sparkling from Santa Margherita. Primarily Chardonnay grapes- with small amounts of Pinot Bianco and Pino Nero. Aromas of apple and lemon. Creamy bubbles with rich, robust fruit flavours with a hint of nuttiness. Long finish for a sparkling wine. Pair with pasta and shrimp with a tarragon cream sauce.

Jon Steeves rated this wine as 93/100 with the following review:

Wow! Love these fine bubbles,! This is an amazing Franciacorta. Dry, crisp, tart, with mouthwatering acidity. Complex and layered on the palate. Great minerality, with an impressive wet stone and stone fruit persistence. What most people don't realize is that this wine is made with a painstakingly precise process of oxygen-free vinification at each step in order to create a quality wine which is drastically low in sulphites (50 mg/ l ) whereas the maximum legal limit is 185 mg/ l. The 75% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Nero and 10% Pinot Bianco blend is nearing perfection on the nose and on the palate as well. With 25 months on lees, this traditional method bubbly is a stand out winner in mouthfeel, texture and taste. Enjoy with almost anything. Tasted Feb 2017. Rated 93/100. Bespoketastings.ca

Matt Steeves rated this wine as 91/100 with the following review:

Franciacorta sparkling wine, purely Italian, pure tradition and representing the highest quality available. Franciacorta is more than a fine wine, it's a DOCG, and a winemaking style that produces elegant world-class sparkling wines. Ca'del Bosco's NV Brut is a great example of the quality that the Franciacorta wine region is producing between Italy's iconic cities of Milan and Verona. Golden yellow in colour with endless streams of micro bubbles intriguing those awaiting their first sip. Baked bread, yellow apple, and nutty aromas greet the senses. Good depth of flavour with more orchard fruit and nutty layers persisting on the long and refreshing finish. Enjoy this fine Italian sparkling wine with seafood, and my favourite, oysters on the half shell with a good friend. Tasted February 2017. 91 points. Matt Steeves - www.quercusvino.ca

Lori Kilmartin WSET3 rated this wine as 91/100 with the following review:

I fell in love with Franciacorta when I went to VinItaly in Verona several years ago. Santa Margherita makes this with a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Bianca and Pinot Nero. Chardonnay dominates and "adds a splash of fruit" says their Wine Ambassador Nicola Lovato. Before fermentation the grapes are all "washed 3 times" to remove any dirt. All the grapes are fermented separately and blended after and matured for 25 months in the bottle before disgorgement.

This is an elegant wine with aromas of honey and fresh apple. Crisp acidity with a lot of minerality with mouth watering acidity. A long finish that leaves you wanting more!

Tasted February 2017.

Tania Thomas rated this wine as 93/100 with the following review:

Delightful Franciacorta non-vintage sparkler vinified in the traditional method with 75% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Bianco and 15% Pinot Nero grapes. The essence of Franciacorta crafted the Ca' Del Bosco way minimizes the contact with oxygen every step of the way. From washing and drying the grapes prior to fermentation, using gravity to move the must rather than pumping over, to oxygen-less disgorgement and bottling. This results in minimal levels of Sulphur Dioxide used and purer and longer living wine. Beautiful brioche nose from 25 months sur lies maturation, golden straw color, aromas and flavours of stewed apples and peaches with perfectly balanced acidity. Fine, persistent mousse and lingering, clean finish. Fantastic as an aperitif and a great companion to creamy cheeses. Tasted February 2017. Tania Thomas – www.taniathomas.com.

Sylvain Segard rated this wine as 90/100 with the following review:

Oh yum! A lot of care goes into making this Franciacorta Cuvée Prestige, with the grapes being rinsed three times, dried, and crushed in zero-oxygen to extract all, and nothing but the flavours of the Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, and Pinot Nero berries that go into it (at a ratio of 75-10-15%).

This bubbly has a pale lemon yellow colour. It greets you immediately with a buttery brioche aroma, followed with golden apples, nectarines, and orange peels. It is dry and crisp in the mouth and tastes of apples baked gently with some nuts and a few kumquats. Score 90/100. (S.Segard, reviewed Feb. 24, 2017)

Jane Staples rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

An elegant dry sparkling wine made in the traditional method, plus all the painstaking care and passion that produces a great wine product. From a blend of Chardonnay 75%, Pinot Bianco 10% and Pinot Nero 15%, these grapes go to the "berry spa" for an exclusive jet spray wash and undergo maturation for at least 25 months. Aromas of tart pear and brioche notes on the nose, followed by clean pear, marzipan and brioche on the elegant palate. Persistent frothy mousse and a touch of honey on the finish. A decorative bottle also makes this an ideal gift wine or wine for Easter dinner.
Tasted Feb. 2017

Andrew Bernardo rated this wine as 92/100 with the following review:

The Chardonnay in this wine provides the structure, the Pinot Blanc the flowery aromatics and acidity, and the Pinot Noir the density. This wine has tons of lees-laced apples, stone fruit, yeast, lemon curd, and wakame. 92 Points (www.ottawawinejournal.com) Tasted Feb 2016

Sara rated this wine as 89/100 with the following review:

Lovely, balanced gentle fruit and some toastiness

Monique Sosa rated this wine as 91/100 with the following review:

Elaborate, elegant and exquisite. White flower blossoms, orange zest, and buttered vanilla scones dominated the aromas. The palate shows enticing, green apple, bosc pear and a mild fresh mint flavour. Ca’ del Bosco is one of the earliest pioneers of Franciacorta DOCs traditional method sparkling wine production and played a key role in their elevation to DOCG status. The Franciacorta DOCG wines set themselves apart from other prominent sparkling wine producing regions – namely Champagne – in several ways, a key one being the much longer minimum aging requirements for secondary bottle fermentation on lees. Ca’ del Bosco takes their production efforts above and beyond with their very own Metodo Ca’ del Bosco practices. A vinification process that involves hand-harvesting highly selective (mostly) Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Pinot Nero grapes bunches, then immediately washing and drying them via this innovative gentle “berry spa” mechanism. The grapes are then crushed, vinified and aged for 25 months on lees with virtually zero oxygen contact and only natural gravity flows. The end result offers a sparkling wine with less than 50 milligrams/litre of total sulfur dioxide, 135 milligrams/litre less than the maximum legal limit. It's certainly interesting, to say the least. Enjoy with smoked salmon tartar. Tasted Dec 2017 & again on Feb 2017 - @sommsosa | bespoketastings.ca