Author: Dirk Chan
Our online feature this week is the NV Ferrari Brut (Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy) – $27.99, regularly $34.99.
Ferrari winery (no relation to the Italian luxury auto manufacturer and Formula 1 racing team of the same name) is the leader in northern Italy’s Trento DOC area, a wine making region dedicated entirely to traditional-method sparkling wine. “For sure we do not want to create any confusion [between Ferrari wines and Ferrari cars], even though we are two companies, with the same name,” says Ferrari winery CEO Matteo Lunelli. “But it’s great to share a name with another company that also represents Italian excellence.”
Previously, they were spotted on the high seas with the Prada yachting team – but now the latest accolade is they’ve become the official sparkling wine of the Formula 1 international auto-racing league. The winery has entered a three-year partnership with Formula 1 to serve Ferrari wines as the official toast of all the organization’s celebrations -including those famous crowd-spraying celebrations from the winner’s podium -as well as free-flowing glasses of Ferrari served alongside gourmet cuisine in the paddocks, plus also in the luxury trackside viewing area above the team garages.
The 119-year-old company has been voted Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year at the Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships in 2015. Ferrari’s wines are “metodo classico” – meaning they’re made in the Champenois menthode, rather than in tank like prosecco. Vinified from grapes grown in Trentino, in the limestone foothills of the Dolomites, they have a crispness and tension to them. But they’re also renowned for their ageing potential. “The warm days and cold nights bring a brightness to our chardonnay that is very different to champagne,” says Ferrari president Matteo Lunelli.
Enjoy this Non-Vintage Brut, it is very delicious and the high quality is obvious with the nose of Golden Delicious apples, lemon, freshly baked white bread while the palate offers a slight minerality, pastry while those tiny small bubbles dance across your palate. Enjoy as a toasting wine, with appetizers and even at the dinner table.
NV Ferrari Brut (Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy) – $27.99 (regularly $34.99)