🍷 Ferrari Riserva Lunelli 2016

Ferrari Riserva Lunelli 2016 is a Trento DOC Riserva sparkling wine from the 2016 harvest by the house Ferrari Trento of Trento.

According to the house, the harvest began on 29 August; the wine is made from a single variety, Chardonnay; the grapes are picked by hand; the wine ages on its lees for at least 69 months; the sugar term is Extra Brut; the alcohol is 12.5 %; bottle sizes: 0.75 l, 1.5 l.

Ferrari Trento is a sparkling wine house in Trento, founded by Giulio Ferrari in 1902 and owned by the Lunelli family since 1952; it makes traditional-method wines under the Trento designation.

Trento is a controlled designation of origin (DOC; in EU terms a PDO) for quality sparkling wine made only by a second fermentation in the bottle; according to the EU single document it was the first Italian designation reserved for this kind of sparkling wine. The area covers 74 wine communes of the Autonomous Province of Trento in the Adige, Cembra, Lagarina (Vallagarina) and Sarca valleys, Valsugana and the Giudicarie; the land is mostly mountainous or hilly, and vineyards on the slopes reach 800 m. The allowed varieties are Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, Pinot Bianco and Meunier. Classic-method sparkling wine has been made in Trentino since the early 1900s, and, according to the description of the link with the area, the sharp swings between day and night temperatures in the last weeks of ripening give the wine its fine aromas.

The term Riserva may be used for Trento that has spent at least 36 months on its lees (from bottling, and never from before 1 January after the harvest); such a wine has an actual strength of at least 12 % and may range only from brut nature to brut in sugar.

Under the DOC Trento rules, the wine may only be made by second fermentation in the bottle and stays on its yeast lees for at least 15 months, counted from bottling and never from before 1 January after the harvest. The actual alcoholic strength is at least 11.5 %, the total acidity at least 5 g/l, and the yield up to 105 hl/ha. Base wine, sparkling and bottling must all take place in the province of Trento. The designation is a rule of origin and production, not a verdict on taste.

Under EU rules, a sparkling wine label must show the designation of origin, the actual alcoholic strength, the sugar-content term, allergens such as sulphites, and the bottler. EU law defines the sugar terms: brut nature means under 3 g/l with no added sugar, extra brut 0 to 6 g/l, brut under 12 g/l and demi-sec 32 to 50 g/l.

Why it matters to you. The word Trento on the label means second fermentation in the bottle and at least 15 months on the lees; Riserva means at least 36 months, and the sugar term tells you how dry or sweet the wine is. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol. The year on the label is the harvest year, so different years of the same line are different wines.