Ferghettina is a family winery - established in 1991 by Roberto Gatti, and run with his wife Andreina, and their children Laura and Matteo. Starting with just 3-4ha of vineyard and a small production of Franciacorta Brut, Ferghettina has now grown to become one of the finest Franciacorta wineries. Situated in the southern half of Lombardy on the edge of the town of Adro, just south of Lake Iseo, the majority of plantings are Chardonnay (approx. 70%) along with Pinot Noir (and just 4ha of Pinot Blanc for their still wines). They now have 200ha of vineyard across 11 different villages, mostly at 250-300m altitude. Each vineyard confers a unique character on the resulting base wine, giving Roberto a broad spectrum of styles to blend for each cuvée. It is this skilful blending, meticulous attention to detail and long bottle maturation that give Ferghettina's wines great finesse and individuality. Matteo designed the eye-catching, square-based bottle used for Milledi and Rosé Brut. First used for the 2007 vintage (released in 2011), the triangular, flattened sides provide a surface area around two and a half times greater than that of a standard bottle, giving more lees-to-wine contact and therefore greater complexity.

The Gatti family manage 120 hectares of vineyards in six localities within the DOC. Grapes for Satèn are selected from older vineyards in just two village areas.

The alcoholic fermentation is carried out in stainless steel tank at controlled temperature between 16°C and 18°C with selected yeast. 10% of the base wine finishes alcoholic fermentation in used barriques and matures there for 5 months. Tirage is carried out in spring time of the following year and the wine is aged on its lees for 36 months. Dosage added is 7g/l (Satèn can only be produced as a Brut style). Satèn also has a lower pressure (less than 4.5 atmospheres) than other Franciacorta wines and this is responsible for its distinctive softness.

A lovely aperitif wine, or pair with seafood canapes and swordfish carpaccio