Summary
Bellavista in Erbusco is one of the best-known houses of Franciacorta, Italy's most important region for bottle-fermented sparkling wine. Founded in 1977 by construction entrepreneur Vittorio Moretti, the estate grew from a hobby vineyard into a business with around 200 hectares and roughly 1.5 million bottles a year. For four decades cellar master Mattia Vezzola shaped the style; since 2021 Francesca Moretti has run the cellar, advised by Richard Geoffroy, the former chef de cave of Dom Pérignon. The range stretches from the non-vintage Alma Assemblage via Satèn and Rosé to the Riserva Vittorio Moretti. Bellavista is also famous as the partner of Milan's Teatro alla Scala.
History
The story of Bellavista begins in 1977, when construction entrepreneur Vittorio Moretti planted a small vineyard on the Bellavista hill near Erbusco – at first more passion than business. The name says it all: from the hill the view reaches across Lake Iseo, the plain and on to the Pre-Alps. The decisive step came in 1981, when Moretti met the young oenologist Mattia Vezzola. Over the following four decades the two built Bellavista into one of Italy's leading sparkling wine producers – Vezzola is regarded as one of the fathers of the Satèn style, the creamy Franciacorta variant made exclusively from white grapes and bottled at lower pressure.
In parallel, the family group Terra Moretti grew up around Bellavista and today unites further estates in Franciacorta, Tuscany and Sardinia. In 2004, for the reopening of the restored Milan opera house, the partnership with the Teatro alla Scala began that defines the house to this day. In 2018 the family also acquired the monastery Convento Santissima Annunciata above Erbusco with its roughly three-hectare vineyard, cultivated for more than a thousand years.
The family managed the generational change step by step: Francesca Moretti, daughter of the founder, took over the presidency of the wine division in 2020 and, in 2021 after Mattia Vezzola's departure, responsibility for the cellar. As a mentor she brought in Richard Geoffroy, who had led Dom Pérignon for 28 years. With him the Alma Assemblage project emerged, redefining the base of the range.
Location & Terroir
Franciacorta lies south of Lake Iseo in the province of Brescia, framed by the Pre-Alps to the north and the striking Monte Orfano to the south. The gentle hills are the work of Ice Age glaciers: morainic soils of gravel, sand and limestone debris that drain well and force the vines to root deeply. The lake tempers the climate, the Alps shield against cold northerly winds – ideal conditions for Chardonnay and Pinot Nero with ripe fruit and yet fresh acidity.
Bellavista farms around 200 hectares, spread over some 100 plots in roughly ten communes of the DOCG zone. This dispersion is deliberate: each plot contributes its own exposure, altitude and soil structure and is vinified separately – the raw material for the assemblage, the heart of the house's craft. Farming follows organic principles; in recent years Francesca Moretti has also stopped irrigating established vines and leaf-stripping, and is experimenting with mulching to make soils and vines more resilient.
Style & Philosophy
Bellavista stands for a classic, elegant Franciacorta style: ripe, precise fruit, a fine mousse and a creamy texture born of long lees ageing and the partial maturation of the base wines in wood. The foundation is the assemblage – the blending of many separately vinified plots and vintages, which Geoffroy brought from Champagne and has developed further with Francesca Moretti in Franciacorta. Around 6.5 million bottles rest in the almost two-kilometre-long underground cellar tunnels of Erbusco. A rarity at this scale: every bottle is still riddled by hand (remuage).
The three grape varieties have clear roles: Chardonnay provides structure, finesse and ageing potential, Pinot Nero brings body, fruit and the colour of the Rosé, Pinot Bianco adds freshness and lightness to the non-vintage cuvées.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range is laid out as an ascending path – from the base Franciacorta to the Riserva:
- Alma Assemblage – the non-vintage Brut, successor to the Cuvée Alma and calling card of the house; Chardonnay, Pinot Nero and Pinot Bianco from many plots and reserve vintages. It comes in two versions (Assemblage 1 and Assemblage 2).
- Brut Teatro alla Scala – vintage-dated Brut from Chardonnay and Pinot Nero, the wine for the season opening at Milan's La Scala.
- Satèn – vintage Satèn in blanc de blancs style with gentler pressure and a silky texture.
- Rosé – vintage-dated Rosé shaped by Pinot Nero.
- Riserva Vittorio Moretti – the prestige cuvée named after the founder, with around seven years on the lees; in selected vintages released as a limited La Scala edition with labels dedicated to opera premieres such as “Lohengrin”, “La Traviata” or “Fidelio”.
- Convento Santissima Annunciata – still white wine as Curtefranca DOC from the historic monastery vineyard.
Among the estate's own vineyard names are Rocchetta and Torbiato. The range is rounded off by Arzente, a brandy from the house's own production.
Awards
For decades Bellavista has ranked among the most highly rated producers of Franciacorta and regularly receives top scores in Italian and international guides. The Brut Teatro alla Scala has won, among others, silver at the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships (2018 vintage) and at the International Wine Challenge (2010 vintage). The greatest accolade, however, is cultural: as the wine of La Scala, Bellavista has stood on what is probably the most famous opera stage in the world every 7 December since 2004.
