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Lonely tree in the heart of Franciacorta, a territory of gently rolling hills, cultivated with vineyards and dotted with medieval villages, ancient abbeys, castles, Renaissance palazzi and 18th and 19th-century patrician villas that, today, often house wineries. In effect, from the 17th century on, Franciacorta has been the privileged summer resort of the Brescian and Milanese nobility, which built scores of villas here, surrounded by marvelous gardens.
Franciacorta's history is also linked to the presence of great monasteries, which in the Middle Ages owned vast estates and reclaimed and cultivated the land. The name, "Franciacorta" seems to have been derived from “Francae Curtes,” i.e., the medieval villages under the protection of monasteries that enjoyed an exemption from taxes.
Wine: the cultivation of grapes on these hills has very ancient origins, as evidenced by prehistoric discoveries and the writings of Latin authors. In 1570, Brescian physician Gerolamo Conforti, wrote in Libellus de Vino Mordaci about a wine “with little bubbles” produced in Franciacorta. (travelplan.it)