Franco Ziliani

The Climb

Training at Alba gave FRANCO ZILIANI the base vocabulary of the trade: grapes, cellar work, and the discipline of technique. From there, the practical side of the business sharpened at Family wine merchant company in Brescia province (1954–1955), where he worked as a wine merchant company employee and learned the commercial side of the field alongside the daily realities of the trade. The early years read less like a breakthrough than a slow build, with observation and repetition doing most of the work. From 1955, Berlucchi in Borgonato became the central site of FRANCO ZILIANI’s cellar work as winemaker. That role tied his name to the house over time, with the work taking root in Franciacorta and becoming part of the estate’s own history. Today, that continuity remains visible at Berlucchi Franciacorta in Corte Franca, where his career is still defined by the same place that has long anchored it.

Today

At Berlucchi Franciacorta in Corte Franca, FRANCO ZILIANI serves as winemaker. The role reflects continuity more than novelty: a long-running practice shaped by time in the cellar, attention to house style, and the steady maintenance of a regional identity over decades.

Signature

Franco's signature wines include RISERVA FRANCO ZILIANI, RISERVA FRANCO ZILIANI 2011, CUVÉE FRANCO ZILIANI 80, CUVÉE FRANCO ZILIANI, and FRANCO ZILIANI 2008. Taken together, these labels mark a direct line through his work, with the name itself carrying the house style and the formal structure that has defined the range.

In Their Words “What if we were also to make a sparkling wine in the French style?” The question is concise, but it opens the trade in a useful way: not as a slogan, but as a practical challenge to method, category, and accepted boundaries.

Recognition

His own words remain the clearest marker of his contribution: "What if we were also to make a sparkling wine in the French style?" In that line, training and timing meet a specific technical curiosity, and the direction of the work becomes clear without needing embellishment.