To understand the identity crisis that has long plagued the wine producers in  Franciacorta, we may as well start with the puzzle of its name. According to one of several conflicting accounts, it was none other than Charlemagne who, upon settling in the region in the year 774 and, finding it reminded him of home, affectionately dubbed the area “Little France.”

Whether fact or fiction, the story speaks to the very real challenge the region has faced in establishing its own unique place in the world of sparkling wine. Ever since the 1960s and ’70s, when a well-financed cadre of winemaking estates set up shop in this hilly patch of Lombardy with the goal of transforming it into a powerhouse of premium sparkling wine, Franciacorta’s identity has revolved around a single imperative: to imitate Champagne.