Every move Nicolone (aka Nicola for his friends) makes, from breaking out of the confines of the Franciacorta consortium, timing his wine’s maturation period according to lunar cycle, to exclusively adopting an almost zero-dosage approach to his cuvées perpétuelles, is a bold declaration of his uncompromising ambition to craft top-tier bubbles.

Based in Gussago in the easternmost area of Franciacorta and north-west of Brescia, Nicolo has dedicated his life to championing this land’s unique terroir and history, with a style far removed from the modern concept of Franciacorta but much more respectfully attuned to the traditional legacy of winemaking in the area. His 6 hectares are planted solely to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir on the slopes of Gussago and the Cellatica amphitheatre, encompassing the crus of Campiani (East/West), Cudula, Santissima, Sabina, and Civineeo; his rare Parcella series is a labour of love to celebrate the unique terroir characteristics of his most cherished sub-plots and sites. The soils around Gussago are almost pure limestone with a touch of clay, in fact mirroring Champagne more closely than the surrounding Franciacorta area which is typically more sand-based.

Nicola Gatta tends his soils with care, passion and a forceful personal interpretation of biodynamic principles, while opting in the cellar for spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, no filtration or clarification, and minimal sulphites. Nicola ages his wines by lunar cycles (lune or “moons”) following biodynamic principles, where each moon corresponds to approximately 29 days. He also adopts the perpetuelles method of continuous solera-style blending across vintages in cask for his base wines. Sometimes, as in his 11.21 Perpetuo Nature Blanc de Noir, this can mean an assemblage of mind-boggling 10 different consecutive vintages of Pinot Noir.

Nicola’s singular vision, commitment and imagination pierces through his range of some of the most spell-bindingly complex, deep and incisive sparkling wines ever made or tasted. These are wines that clearly stand shoulder to shoulder against the finest grower Champagnes in the world.