Il Mosnel's winemaking cellars are located in historic structures dating to the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, which thus preserve their antique beauty and provide ideal conditions for ageing Franciacorta wine. Il Mosnel was among the very first producers in the area to adopt stainless steel fermenters, refrigeration facilities, and pneumatic presses.
The grapes, all from our estate vineyards, are harvested into shallow boxes and are quickly brought to the cellar, where they go through a painstaking quality examination. The clusters are then gently pressed in several cycles, which yields three fractions of must, each of different quality. These lots are then fermented separately, at controlled temperatures, either in small oak barrels or in steel fermenters, depending on each lot's ageing potential.
During maturation, the wines, all subdivided according the grape variety, vineyard, and press fraction, remain in contact with their own spent yeast, or fine lees. In the spring, the wines undergo a lengthy series of careful tastings and are then blended, in varying proportions, into the various stylistic versions of Franciacorta. They will then be given a second fermentation in the bottle, a procedure known here as the Metodo Franciacorta. This natural process transforms sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which remains trapped in the bottle and is gradually absorbed into the wine, forming the characteristic effervescence.
Resting in the striking and romantic atmosphere of our ageing cellars, the wines mature a minimum of two years in contact with the lees, which encourages the development of the wine's luminosity, its delicate, long-lingering mousse, and those inimitable aromas, so distinctive to Franciacorta.