Guided tours, themed workshops and wine estate tastings to experience the attractions of Franciacorta’s historic houses
History and legend interweave in the collective imagination of the era (too often called the ‘dark’ ages) which saw the birth of civic virtue. The apocalyptic image of the Middle Ages dreamed up in the twentieth century is visible in the towers, moats and drawbridges, conjuring up a fascinating atmosphere for both children and adults. It is precisely the castles – in the widest sense – which play a centre-stage role in this cultural itinerary which cuts across the Franciacorta area from Cazzago San Martino to Coccaglio, by way of Rovato.
Castles – initially built for defensive reasons – were common in the Sebino area from Roman times to the Renaissance era. Coccaglio’s historic castrum dating to the early years of Roman domination in Lombardy is no longer extant, although signs of it are still visible in the layout of the historic centre. In the midst of houses crowded into a half-oval shaped layout it is the imposing Roman tower which stands out. It was built as a gateway and contains caneve, small two-floored warehouses whose ground floors were used as wine cellars and first floors as raised-entrance haybarns.
Cazzago San Martino was also a Roman fortification but its surviving castle looks more like a romantic Renaissance villa built within a 13th century building. Of the older building it is its ring of battlemented rough stone walls complete with towers, moat and drawbridge which has survived, all attributed to Inverardo da Bornato, the lord and condottiero the castle is named after. Known for its frescoed rooms and coffered ceilings it was built in the 17th and 18th centuries at the behest of the Gandini family.
Now known as Villa Orlando, after the Livorno family who have owned it since the 1930s, it is open to the public and its double garden makes it worth a visit from the outside too: it has am Italian garden to the south and an English garden to the north. Its underground cellars, used for seven hundred years until the year 2000, when their function changed in the interest of providing space and machinery for organic winemaking, are also worthy of note. The itinerary ends with a tasting of the wines made by the castle’s wine estate: Curtefranca rosso, Curtefranca bianco and, on request, Franciacorta Brut.
Just a short distance away, Castello Quistini is also known as Palazzo Porcellaga, after the aristocrat who had it built in 1560 as an alternative to Rovato Castle. In spring, when the garden is in bloom, it opens its doors to the public who can visit its maze of roses and secret, bioenergetic and kitchen gardens, with its historic fruit and medicinal herbs, possibly in the company of one of the castle’s owners who take visitors through its thousands of flora species.
A series of themed workshops are also held throughout the year: Japanese bookbinding, Kintsugi (literally ‘repairing with gold’), natural soap making, botanical illustration, wine etiquette, cold porcelain jewellery making and Ikebana (an ancient Japanese flower arranging practice) are just some of the workshops held in the 16th century house.
Rovato’s town centre is just a few hundred metres from the villa, with Piazza Cavour, designed in the early decades of the 19th century hosting the town market, with its semi-circular portico made up of square columns and a solemn central arch opening up onto the parish church of Santa Maria Assunta. From here a ten-minute walk takes you to Santuario di Santo Stefano, at the foot of Monte Orfano, whose frescoes attributed to Vincenzo Foppa are some of Franciacorta’s most noteworthy artistic gems, together with the Romanino Annunciazione at nearby Convento dell’Annunciata. This enchanting place nestling in vineyards, centuries’ old olive groves and small oak woods was commissioned in 1449 by the Ordine dei Frati Servi di Maria monastic order and currently encompasses a guesthouse which is especially well suited to tourists in search of peace and quiet.
There are also two relatively new wine producers making organic wine on the slopes of Monte Orfano: Barbalonga, baptised with its founder’s nickname and born from the passion of engineer Angelo Martinazzi. Its now 12 hectares of land bought in 1988 are farmed with Chardonnay, and since 2011 it has contributed to the Franciacorta winemaking tradition. Le Vedute is even more recent. It was founded in 2015 by friends Graziano Manenti and Andrea Gozzini and makes not only all types of Franciacorta allowed by the regulations but also white and red Curtefranca, a denomination protected by the consortium which replaced “Terre di Franciacorta” in 2008 to avoid confusion with the more famous Brescia DOCG, which designates not just a territory but also a method.
Any wine-estate tasting must continue at the dining table, with a delicious dish of oil-cooked beef, a recognised local denomination (De.Co.) since 2018. The area’s gastronomic temples include Come una volta managed by chef Alberto Bittu – founder of the Ordine del Manzo all’Olio di Rovato – which embodies the local desire to preserve and promote the area’s cuisine whilst also serving up a range of dishes for all tastes and requirements. Trattoria da Gina is also in the centre of Rovato. It is a centuries’ old institution at which Brescia’s signature dishes meld with regional border specialities (such as Piacenza firm Capitelli’s fine cooked charcuterie) for a full, satisfying experience to wash down with a vast selection of versatile Franciacorta wines taking diners right through their meals.
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