The estate's oak-aged Chardonnay: fermented in French oak from Allier and the Vosges, nine to ten months on the fine lees with bâtonnage. Full, creamy and built to wait a few years.
Deep golden yellow, clearly fuller in colour than the estate's unoaked Chardonnay. The nose is rich and layered: ripe peach and pineapple, behind them hazelnut, butter and a light smoky spice from the French oak. The palate is full and creamy, its texture almost unctuous from the stirring of the lees, while enough acidity sits underneath to hold everything up. The oak is noticeable but never dominant: it lends structure and length rather than flavour. The finish is long and faintly saline, with that nutty note returning at the very end. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees, and never straight from the fridge.
Cantina Francone has worked out of Neive, in the heart of Barbaresco, since 1892. Five generations on, Marco and Fabrizio Francone run the family estate, whose reputation rests above all on the Gallina hill: a south-facing cru listed on Renato Ratti's historic map of Barbaresco crus.
The Chardonnay for I Patriarchi grows in Neive, on hillside ground with a good share of marl and sand. The site catches a cool evening breeze — exactly what a white grape needs in a region built around red.
Picking is done by hand into crates in mid-September. In the press the must gets a brief maceration on the skins, after which fermentation begins in French oak barrels and barriques from the forests of Allier and the Vosges.
There the wine stays until the summer after harvest, with regular bâtonnage: the stirring of the lees that gives it its creamy texture.
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