Cuvée Imperiale Brut

About this wine

This Franciacorta is made mainly from Chardonnay with a small portion of Pinot Noir, and it undergoes the traditional method with at least 18 months on the lees. The nose shows pear, white peach, and a hint of litchi with delicate floral notes and subtle bakery aromas from yeast contact. On the palate the wine feels clean and full bodied with bright acidity that gives a lively backbone and a fine persistent bead. Flavors echo stone fruit and citrus, with a gentle creaminess and a faint biscuit note on the finish. The cuvée typically includes a share of reserve wines in the blend and is finished at a Brut level of sweetness, which keeps the fruit forward and the texture balanced.

About the grape

Chardonnay in this cuvée brings the long history of a Burgundian grape that became Franciacorta gold, grown here across the 19 Franciacorta communes and used for 90 percent of the blend, with gentle progressive pressing and stainless steel fermentation to preserve clean fruit and acidity. Pinot Noir provides structure and a touch of red grape character, it is the remaining 10 percent of the assemblage and is handled with the same careful fractioned pressing so only the best juice is included in the metodo classico base wine. Both varieties are harvested in late August to early September depending on vintage, farmed to yields around 9,500 kilograms per hectare for the estate blend, and the finished cuvée is aged on the lees for at least 18 months to integrate their roles in the final Franciacorta bottling.

Quick facts

• 🎉 Cuvée Imperiale was the bottle that launched modern Franciacorta — Berlucchi’s first Metodo Classico in 1961 is widely considered the birth of the region’s sparkling-wine identity.
• 🎼 The cuvée is built like a musical composition — Berlucchi blends around 100 separate base wines each year to keep Cuvée Imperiale’s signature style consistent.
• ⏳ About 10% of each Cuvée Imperiale blend comes from ‘reserve wines’ kept from previous great vintages, a little time-travel trick to preserve house character.
• 🌞 For its 60th anniversary the label got a glamorous makeover: the classic oval was softened and a tiny sun and moon were added to the badge as a nod to nature’s role in each vintage.
• 🍾 Cuvée Imperiale is produced in celebratory formats beyond the standard 750 ml — Berlucchi bottles it in magnums, jeroboams and other large sizes, a favorite for big toasts and collectors.

Palate profile

Producer

Guido Berlucchi traces its origins to the mid 20th century when Guido Berlucchi and Franco Ziliani began experimenting with classic method sparkling wine in Franciacorta, leading to the first limited release in 1961. The estate turned that experiment into a full scale winery, and its Palazzo Lana cellar and historic estate became central to its identity. Under the leadership of the Ziliani family the company expanded vineyard holdings and helped establish Franciacorta as Italy s premier region for method classico sparkling wine. In recent decades Berlucchi has combined heritage cellar aging with modern sustainability practices while developing high end cuvees that have drawn international recognition from critics and trade publications.