Molenér 09/23

Molenér is Nicola Gatta's flagship metodo classico riserva - 90 lune, around ninety months on the lees - sold as Vino Spumante because Gatta deliberately declassifies out of Franciacorta DOCG. The name is not a vineyard: it was the family miller's nickname in Brescia dialect. The fruit is Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the hills of Gussago and Cellatica at 400 to 450 metres, on calcareous soils of morainic origin, farmed without herbicides; merchants split on the exact blend (50/50, 60/40 and 70/30 all appear across releases), which for a multi-vintage cuvee likely reflects real variation.

The base wine ferments spontaneously in steel and is assembled with reserve wines kept in cement before the second fermentation in bottle; nothing is filtered and no sulfites are added at any point. The producer's own description names oxidation - alongside creaminess and minerality - as part of the wine's intended balance, so the amber, honeyed register is the house style, not bottle age. Extra Brut; the 09/23 on the label follows the pattern his merchants list as sboccatura, a September 2023 disgorgement.