Partners in Wine

hallgarten & Novum Wines and guido berlucchi

This family winery, established in Borgonato in 1955, put Franciacorta on the map with the region’s first traditional-method sparkling wine. A restless quest for quality, and sustainability, is built into its DNA

“In 1961, Guido Berlucchi and Franco Ziliani became the first to release a commercial sparkling wine with a Franciacorta label. Berlucchi is now, undoubtedly, one of the two or three market leaders in the category.”

Jim Wilson, portfolio director, Hallgarten & Novum

We first began working with Guido Berlucchi in August 2022. This was Hallgarten’s first venture into Franciacorta, a region we have often kept our eye on and admired.

Franciacorta has so much going for it to help differentiate it from other, similar sparkling wines, showing why it is such a hugely popular sparkling wine region in Italy.

While there are similarities between Franciacorta and Champagne, there are also notable differences: a warmer climate, perhaps encouraging a rounder style of wine and longer ageing; and it is driven by a vibrant Italian restaurant sector, which will feed into off-trade purchases.

In 2022, Guido Berlucchi were named Winery of the Year 2022 by Gambero Rosso. They have a lot going for them! It is now our responsibility to ensure the UK’s independent merchant sector are aware of the quality of the traditional-method sparkling wines being produced in Franciacorta.

“As pioneers of Franciacorta, we feel compelled to promote our wines in international markets, embarking on a journey towards widespread recognition. The UK has demonstrated a particular affinity with sparkling wines.”

Paolo Ziliani, president, Guido Berlucchi

We proudly uphold the pioneering spirit of our father, Franco Ziliani, who is also considered the father of Franciacorta. At the same time, we embrace innovation to improve our grape growing and winemaking processes, while respecting the environment and tradition.

Our goal is to strive to achieve excellence in every harvest, by carefully selecting our grapes and using them as the basis for products with different organoleptic properties. We constantly seek to adopt agricultural practices to avoid waste, respect the environment and limit our impact. All of our directly operated vineyards have been certified as organic since 2016.

We aim to offer a selection of wines qualified to meet the highest global standards. Our objective is to establish Guido Berlucchi as a benchmark of excellence beyond national borders, as a real worldwide emblem of distinction.