NV Le Marchesine Franciacorta Nitens Brut 750 ml

The name says everything, if you know your Latin. Nitens—shining, gleaming, luminous—is what Le Marchesine chose to call this Franciacorta Brut, and it turns out to be a promise the wine keeps every time you pop the cork.

Le Marchesine is one of Franciacorta's most respected estates, and the Biatta family's connection to wine runs deeper than most. Their roots in Brescia trace back to 1196; Giovanni Biatta planted the first three hectares in Passirano in 1985, and his son Loris—along with grandchildren Alice and Andrea—has since grown the estate to 47 hectares of DOCG vineyards. It's a multigenerational project built on the premise that Franciacorta, made by the same traditional method as Champagne, deserves to be taken just as seriously.

That premise isn't hard to defend. Franciacorta is Italy's premier sparkling wine appellation—the only one where the méthode traditionnelle is required by law across the entire DOCG—and Le Marchesine has been one of its standard-bearers for four decades.

The estate has always operated with one eye on the Champagne region. The house oenologist, Jean Pierre Valade, is a member of the Champagne Enological Institute—a connection that has shaped everything from the clonal selections planted in the vineyard to the philosophy in the cellar. The vines are Guyot-trained at up to 4,500 plants per hectare, and the grapes are harvested by hand in 18-kilogram boxes to preserve their integrity from vine to press.

The Nitens is a blend of 85% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Nero, and 5% Pinot Bianco. After gentle pressing, the juice ferments in stainless steel with indigenous yeast, then ages on the lees for a minimum of 24 months—longer than most Champagne non-vintage requirements. Malolactic fermentation is deliberately avoided, preserving the wine's characteristic cut and energy. It's bright and generous on the palate—juicy at the core, with a zippy midpalate and a clean, lingering finish that earns its name.

We found this wine through our friends at A16, the James Beard Award–winning San Francisco restaurant. That kind of placement doesn't happen by accident.