The history of the Italian classic method sparkling wine is indissolubly related to the precious work of Giulio Ferrari who in the beginning of the last century decided to turn his passion into reality, the one of producing classic method sparkling wines in his homeland: Trentino. In 1902 and at 23 years old only, Giulio Ferrari, expert viticulturist and enologist, establishes in Trento his winery that will deeply mark the development of Italian enology and bubbles. The young Giulio Ferrari studies at the Imperial Regia Scuola Agraria di San Michele (Imperial and Royal School of Agriculture of San Michele) and later at the renowned School of Agriculture of Montpellier in France. After having worked for some time in Epernay, in the heart of Champagne, he learns the secrets of the production of classic method sparkling wine that he will then adopt in his Trentino. Exacting, strict and determined, Giulio Ferrari in few years is successful in producing his renowned sparkling wine and that will just be the beginning of a repeated success in Italy and in the world.

A view of Villa Margon

 In 1952 Bruno Lunelli, father of the current owners, bought from Giulio Ferrari both the trademark and the winery of his prestigious sparkling wines. At those times were produced about 9000 bottles and every one of them was reserved with many years in advance. In 1969 Bruno Lunelli passes the management of the winery to his sons: Gino and Franco, responsible for the administration and the chairmanship, and Mauro, together with the father Bruno, in the cellar and responsible for the production of the noble bubbles, renowned in the world as Spumante Classico Ferrari. Thanks to the experience acquired from the historical sparkling wines Ferrari Demi-Sec and Ferrari Maximum Brut, Mauro Lunelli develops a scrupulous experimentation and research based on taste and style that were getting more and more international and common. In the course of the years, also thanks to the repeated worldwide success, today Ferrari continues to be among the most appreciated and famous Italian sparkling wines in the world. The variety of production has grown up and today, besides Ferrari Brut, Ferrari Rosé, Demi-Sec and Maximum Brut, are also produced the millesimée Ferrari Perlé, Ferrari Perlé Rosé and the renowned and extraordinary Riserva del Fondatore Giulio Ferrari.

 Ferrari's classic method sparkling wines born and ages now in a new cellar: an area of thirty thousands square meters (about 35,880 square yards) where more than fifteen millions of bottles of different vintages are left to age. Every year are released on the market and consumed about four millions and five hundreds thousand bottles, however the spirit and the soul of spumante Ferrari, its conscience and its emotion, are the ones which respected from the very beginning the principle of “from vineyards to the table”. All Ferrari's classic method sparkling wines are exclusively produced with grapes cultivated in Trentino and coming from family vineyards as well as from historical vintner friends. The production of the cellar is made by 8 enologists led by Mauro Lunelli to whom he passes every year the fundaments and the principles of that art and of that passion which made Spumante Ferrari renowned and important.

	Bottles of sparkling wine on pupitres

 The Lunelli family, rich in secular experience acquired in the production of classic method sparkling wine, in the 1980's decides to expand its production with dry still wines, obtained with grapes coming from family owned vineyards and cultivated in the hills of Trento. Today the Lunelli Winery produces both white wines and red wines, bodied and structured, that well express the typicality and the enological vocation of Trentino. The consciousness of the certainty that a great wine is obtained from quality grapes, led Lunelli winery to look for Masi and Ville that could worthily represent the enological soul of the territory. Based on this concept were born the whites Villa Margon and Villa Gentilotti, in both present Chardonnay, and Villa San Nicolò produced with Sauvignon Blanc grape. In the 1990's, after some years of experimentation, are produced two red wines, both belonging to Trentino DOC: Maso Le Viane, made with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes, and Maso Montalto, produced with Pinot Noir. These wines, with remarkable possibilities of aging in bottle, are being aged in wood containers, with care and mastery, in order to keep the personality of the grapes used for the production.

 Classic method sparkling wines and still wines would be considered enough to well represent a remarkable production of every winery, however the Lunelli family is also involved in the production of refined grappas - the historical trademark Segnana - after all in a region like Trentino having strong and important connections with this distillate, it could also be seen as normal. Segnana makes grappa since 1860 and in the beginning was just a mobile distillery, with the equipment installed on a cart hauled by horses with which Paolo Segnana used to go directly to wineries and there he distilled, in front of everyone, the pomace in order to make grappa. At the end of the 1880's the distillery was established at Borgo Valsugana and in a short time became an important reference model for Trentino's grappa. In 1982 Segnana was acquired by Lunelli family and the grappa they produce is considered as a son of the “wine family” because it is produced with the pomace used for the production of Ferrari spumante, softly pressed and rich in must.

 Today the distillery was moved in Trento, near the Ferrari winery, in order to mark the bond between grappa Segnana and Ferrari Spumante. The grappas are exclusively produced with a steam operated batch distillation, moreover Segnana is a member of the Istituto Tutela Grappa del Trentino (Institute for the Safeguarding of Trentino Grappa). A particular mention goes to grappa Solera, exclusively produced with selected pomace from Trentino and aged in cask with the Solera method, the same used for the production of the renowned Jerez (Sherry) and Marsala. The obtained grappa is of absolute elegance and benefits from the particular and prolonged aging in wood. Because of its peculiar qualities and in order to better appreciate this special grappa, it is best to serve it at room temperature and in balloon glasses. Interesting are also the possible matchings that can be created with this particular grappa, such as with cigars or chocolate, in which the alcohol and roundness of the distillate contribute to the harmony of the matching.

 This section is reserved to wine producers who want to publish news and information about their business, to announce new products or just for communicating to its customers information and promotions about their products and activity. Send news to be published at our e-mail address.