Riserva del Fondatore Giulio Ferrari TRENTODOC

Paradoxically, Italy’s most famous metodo classico sparkling wine was started with the desire to compete with the best French Champagnes. Giulio Ferrari, a Trentino native, started his venerable sparkling wine house in 1902, after studying winemaking in France. Convinced that his native region’s terroir was ideal for growing Chardonnay, he produced three of his now best-known cuvées – Ferrari Brut, Perlé and Giulio Ferrari – as blanc de blancs. This innovative approach quickly paid off. Ferrari wines consistently receive some of Italy’s top accolades, including being awarded Tre Bicchieri 22 years in a row.

With its mountain viticulture (the Dolomites), Trentino is an area well suited to the production of sparkling wines of great elegance and complexity. Large diurnal temperature range and high altitudes ensures high acidity and freshness in the grapes. With 300 acres of vineyards, Ferrari represents the largest estate in the Trentino region. This Trentodoc is obtained from the finest Chardonnay grapes grown in the Lunelli family’s own vineyards on the slopes of the mountainsides that surround Trento, at up to 1968 ft above sea level. The 2009 winter was particularly cold and characterised by abundant rainfall. However, the delay in the start of the vegetative cycle was immediately recovered thanks to a very hot spring that brought the data regarding the development of the vines back to normal, even by the time of flowering and fruit set. Notable thermal excursions during the summer, with temperatures even higher than the seasonal average, led to a harvest of grapes that were perfectly healthy and rich in aromatic components.

Giulio Ferrari is made using the traditional metodo classico. After a hand-harvest in September, the wine undergoes a gentle pressing and first fermentation in tanks. The wine is bottled and a second fermentation occurs with selected yeasts.

Its appearance in the glass reveals golden highlights and an outstanding persistence and refined perlage. The nose is intense and immediately displays floral notes of jasmine, but also of quince, sweet oranges and gingerbread. The palate simply confirms the great richness suggested by the aromas. The flavor is creamy but still vibrant, rendered almost interminable by an appealing iodised vein. The finish returns to notes of delicate spices and exotic fruit, which elongate its persistence and underline the extraordinary class of this wine.