Storia
Giulio Ferrari and the foundation
Ferrari Trento was founded in Trento in 1902 by Giulio Ferrari, a young nurseryman and oenologist. He recognized Trentino’s potential for Chardonnay, introduced the first Chardonnay planting material to the region and set out to create what he conceived as an exceptionally beautiful vineyard garden. The small cellar produced a limited number of carefully selected bottles, intended to stand comparison with leading French Champagnes.
Transfer to the Lunelli family
Giulio Ferrari had no children and, in 1952, sold the cellar to Bruno Lunelli, a Trentino wine merchant and entrepreneur. Bruno expanded production while maintaining the business’s emphasis on quality and Metodo Classico.
Bruno’s sons Franco, Gino and Mauro succeeded him in 1969. During the 1970s they assumed operational leadership and developed Ferrari into a national reference for Italian Metodo Classico sparkling wine.
The estate and the third generation
In 1989 the Lunelli family acquired Villa Margon, a 16th-century complex surrounded by vineyards. Restored by the family, it became a representative headquarters and an important part of the Ferrari landscape and hospitality circuit.
In 2005 third-generation cousins Marcello, Matteo, Camilla and Alessandro Lunelli took responsibility for the business, with the objective of developing Ferrari internationally while retaining its Trentino identity, family continuity and commitment to Metodo Classico.
Locanda Margon opened near Trento in 2007, within the Ferrari vineyard landscape, as a restaurant and experimental venue for pairing cuisine with Trentodoc.
Viticultural research and sustainability
A rootstock research programme coordinated by Professor Attilio Scienza had begun in the early 1980s. In 2014 Ferrari Trento, the University of Milan and other wine-sector participants created Winegraft to produce and disseminate new-generation rootstocks. Marcello Lunelli became its president and one of its founders.
The “Il Vigneto Ferrari” protocol also entered application in 2014. It established requirements for healthy, sustainable mountain viticulture among direct suppliers and part of the indirect supplier network, covering grower education, biodiversity, irrigation, pruning, harvest and safe plant-protection practices.
Cellar development and recent initiatives
An expansion of the underground cellar was completed at the end of 2023. Bottles formerly stored in outside warehouses were brought back to the winery, reducing transport and taking advantage of the naturally cooler underground environment for lees ageing.
In 2024 the Family Archive project was enlarged and revised to preserve and present mature releases. Its Recent Disgorgements and Original Editions programmes explore the ageing of mountain-grown Chardonnay and Pinot Nero through later disgorgements and wines retained in their original commercial presentation.
Ferrari Trento’s four-year partnership with Formula 1 concluded in 2024. Beginning with the Imola podium celebration in 2021, the partnership included the debuts of the Miami and Las Vegas Grands Prix and special bottles for selected races. Auctions of podium Jeroboams signed by drivers raised approximately €200,000 over four years for charitable organizations and emergency-relief initiatives.
Also in 2024, Ferrari installed an additional 300 kW photovoltaic system at its Ravina site, expanded energy-efficiency work, maintained organic and Biodiversity Friend certification across 135 ha of estate vineyards, and continued precision-viticulture and genetic-conservation projects. Ferrari Trento was named Sparkling Producer of the Year for the seventh time at The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships.
Terroir
Ferrari’s viticultural territory is Trentino and its mountain slopes. The grape supply is restricted to Chardonnay and Pinot Nero cultivated at elevations between 300 and 750 m. This altitude range, sloping terrain and the distribution of vineyards across the mountain environment define the raw-material base for its Trentodoc production.
Villa Margon forms a distinct estate setting near Trento: a 16th-century residence encircled by Chardonnay vineyards and woodland. Its vineyards also serve as a research site for precision viticulture, irrigation management, genetic conservation and yield forecasting.
Vinificazione
Estate and supplier standards
All 135 ha of estate vineyards were certified organic and Biodiversity Friend in 2024. The broader supply chain operates under the “Il Vigneto Ferrari — for healthy and sustainable mountain viticulture” protocol, in application since 2014 and certified by CSQA under UNI 11233. It applies to every direct supplier and part of the indirect network.
The protocol covers grower training, biodiversity, irrigation, pruning, harvest and safe use of plant-protection products. It prohibits herbicides and minimizes synthetic fertilizers. Soil fertility is supported with manure, soil cultivation and autumn green manures that add organic matter and increase nectar-bearing species for bees and other pollinating insects. Traditional practices and natural fertilizers are preferred. Ferrari agronomists make at least five field visits each year to evaluate vineyard work and recommend improvements.
Grower training and certification
Ferrari organizes annual training for direct suppliers. The 2024 programme comprised six meetings, some held with Fondazione Edmund Mach and the University of Campania and others conducted by Ferrari’s technical department. Topics included correct application and adjustment of atomizers, vineyard agronomy, soil fertility, vegetative and productive balance, fertilization of green-manure swards, methods for calculating viticulture’s environmental footprint and practical pruning. Fifty-nine percent of direct suppliers participated, receiving 1,192 hours of training in total.
In 2024, 100 direct supplying companies held SQNPI certification and 63 suppliers held organic certification. Ferrari’s own estate vineyards carried both organic and Biodiversity Friend certification.
Precision viticulture and water management
Ferrari uses satellite imagery, vegetation indices and field measurements to monitor vine health, within-vineyard variability and water stress. Advanced sensors permit remote supervision of irrigation systems and measurement of soil water content, allowing irrigation to respond to actual vine needs.
At Villa Margon, a tractor-mounted camera captures high-resolution vineyard imagery. Annotated images train artificial-intelligence models to identify and count clusters and berries, estimate yields, evaluate grape health and assess shoot maturation. The objective is to improve fruit quality, target resource use and reduce environmental impact.
New-generation M-series Winegraft rootstocks have been introduced in response to water scarcity. They are intended to reduce water consumption by as much as 30% without compromising productivity. Winegraft originated in 2014 from collaboration among Ferrari Trento, the University of Milan and other wine-sector organizations.
Genetic conservation and plant health
Genetic material has been recovered from non-clonal Chardonnay vineyards aged 50–60 years that were approaching removal. Material from the best-adapted vines was planted in an experimental vineyard to conserve and develop intravarietal biodiversity.
Ferrari has also propagated material from vines that remained healthy in vineyards heavily affected by flavescence dorée, establishing experimental plots to observe possible tolerance.
Physiological monitoring under anti-hail nets evaluates their influence on grape ripening and informs adjustments to canopy management. Plant-protection research includes testing combinations of copper and different sulphur formulations against downy mildew, assessing natural biostimulants or corroborants as supplements to standard natural products, calibrating conventional and recovery/tunnel sprayers for uniform application, and measuring copper deposits on foliage so that only the minimum necessary quantity is applied.
Harvest intake and traceability
Each incoming grape bin carries a QR code identifying its origin. Digital cameras record the fruit as the bins move along a conveyor, and an algorithm identifies grape defects and supplies real-time information on each lot. The results support pre-vinification quality control and help Ferrari and its growers agree on measures for continuing improvement.
Ferrari Trento uses Metodo Classico as its sole production process. Its sparkling wines are based exclusively on mountain-grown Chardonnay and Pinot Nero from Trentino.
Incoming grape bins are individually traceable through QR codes. A camera-and-algorithm system evaluates each lot on the conveyor, identifies visible defects and supplies detailed real-time information before vinification.
Bottle maturation takes place on the lees, including within an underground cellar complex described as a labyrinth holding millions of bottles. The expansion completed at the end of 2023 brought bottles previously kept in external warehouses back to the winery. The underground space is naturally cooler than above-ground storage and reduces both transport and the energy needed to maintain appropriate lees-ageing temperatures.
The Family Archive preserves the ageing record of Ferrari’s mountain-grown Chardonnay and Pinot Nero. Recent Disgorgements present later-disgorged vertical and horizontal selections, while Original Editions retain the original disgorgement with which a vintage first reached the market.
Filosofia
Ferrari Trento defines quality through the combination of Trentino mountain viticulture, exclusive use of Chardonnay and Pinot Nero, Metodo Classico and detailed agronomic and oenological work developed over more than 120 years. Its stated principles join continuous improvement and research with fidelity to family tradition and place.
The Lunelli family presents the business as a long-term family enterprise rather than a short-term investment. Its third generation seeks to develop Ferrari internationally while retaining Trentino as the exclusive viticultural territory and Metodo Classico as the sole production process.
Environmental responsibility is framed as part of product quality. This includes organic estate farming, supplier standards, preservation of soil fertility and biodiversity, precision use of water and plant-protection materials, genetic conservation, renewable energy, carbon management and recovery of winery by-products. The wider family philosophy is that a business should create value while also generating well-being, safety and beauty for employees and the surrounding community.