We were driving this day from Tirano to Lake Iseo. We stopped in late afternoon at the Bersi Serlini Winery in the Franciacorta wine region, known for its sparkling wines. This winery has 35 acres of mostly Chardonnay grapes with some Pinot Noir included for balance. They only make sparkling wines, but they make several different types. They said the winery was started in 1886 by the family that still owns it. Their primary tasting room is an 11th century building built by the Benedictine monks.

Our winery guide said that the high acidity, the nearby lake, and the mountains all contributed to their Chardonnay grapes being great for making sparkling wines. Our winery guide also said that they are in the "hospitality" business, not the wine business. They do weddings, corporate events, business meetings, and more. They have multiple indoor and outdoor settings, and wine is always served with every event.

You can see one of their vineyards just below their winery in the next photo. You can also notice a couple having a picnic in the vineyard, which is part of their idea of being in the hospitality business.

They have two underground cellars, the vinification cellar and the maturation cellar. Both cellars are substantially underground. We first walked the grounds, perused the crushers and so on and then went down into the vinification cellar. Our guide said that they harvest in August to get the grapes at high acidity which helps for sparkling wines. Since we were here in mid-October, most of the initial work had long since finished.

We visited the fermenting room, the ageing room, and the "mixing-decision" room.

After our winery tour, we were seated in a tasting room and "blind tasted" (with a complete blindfold) three wines: a fresh, young, sparkling wine; a less pressure, long-aftertaste wine, and a sweet-aged wine. Vicky was one of only two people in our group of 16 that correctly guessed all three wines in the blind tasting. Her prize for guessing correctly was a wine-cork, which she is holding in her hand.

We were served lunch after our wine tasting. Then we had some free time. I spent my free time walking around the property. I passed several vineyards on my way to their "botanic garden." They said that they have wine-tasting events in the garden where people can associate the various plants with the wines they are tasting. Of course, the garden was past its summer peak and well into fall decline but I still enjoyed the visit there.