Ferrari – the founders of Trento DOC

History

The history of Cantine Ferrari dates back to the beginning of the 20th century when Giulio Ferrari had the idea of creating a sparkling wine inspired by French Champagne. He founded the winery in 1902 in Trento, Italy. Furthermore, Giulio Ferrari was the first vintner to plant Chardonnay grapes in Italy. Back then, the winery only produced very few bottles. In the 1950s production reached 1.000.00 bottles. In 2012 Ferrari bottled approximately 5.200.000 bottles. A dramatic increase in quantity but quality remained most important to the winery.

Lots of things changed between the 1950s and now. First of all the winery is not anymore in the hands of the Ferrari family – that is because Giulio Ferrari had no kids. The Lunelli Group has taken over the ownership of the winery. Ferrari is today one if Italy’s leading producers of sparkling wine and the #1 when it comes to wine from Trento. All wines produced by the winery are part of the Italian wine appellation Trento DOC.

The wines of Ferrari

Ferrari produces exclusively sparkling wine. The Lunelli Group has a separate winery, Azienda Agricola, for still fines from Trento. In my opinion the still wines from Trento are not that good.

All 11 sparklers are produced after the méthode champenoise which is also known as metodo classico. The méthode champenoise is more time-intensive and as a result often more expensive then sparkling wines produced after the metodo martinotti.

The collection of Ferrari wines includes Brut, Demi-Sec, Maximum Brut, Maximum Demi-Sec and two rosé. Ferrari also produces “millesimato” sparklers. In Italy, sparkling wines produced from one single vintage are allowed be labeled millesimato. Last but not least the winery has a several riservas – including a Gran Riserva (current vintage of the Gran Riserva is 2001).

Photo Credits: ariKasia http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

Photo Credits: Yari Simone Prete http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en

Photo Credits: Fabio Marini http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en

Photo Credits: Selvaggia http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en

In 2012 eight of Ferrari’s wines have been awarded. The 2005 Ferrari – Perlé Nero – Trento DOC has even won the prestigious 3 Bicchieri award from the Gambero Rosso.

Even though I haven’t written about a specific wine on Vino in Love I drink them regularly. The Perle Nero is among the best sparkling wines that I have tried so far – only downside is its price. The second wine I can recommend without a doubt is their Rosé. I’ve tried most of their wines on wine fairs like the VinItaly in Verona and I’ve never been disappointed by a Ferrari but the above two are in my opinion the best

Let’s finish this winery review with a video. The video shows a wine tasting with the owner of Ferrari, Matteo Lunelli. Bruce Sanderson, French Champagne expert, speaks the introduction. Sanderson works for Wine Specator (I ignored that fact since I am not a big fan of Wine Spectator). The tasting is about the 2001 Ferrari – Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore (also known as Ferrari’s Gran Riserva).

Useful links:

1. Ferrari on Wine-Searcher (yes the sell wine in the USA, too)
2. Ferrari Website
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