Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore

“Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore Trentodoc 1999. Silky, full palate texture balanced by delightful freshness, layers of flavour and lingering finish. Delicious wine! At its peak, but time in hand.”

“Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore Trentodoc 2004. Palate is beautifully integrated, concentrated flavours, round mousse texture and lively acidity, honey nuance adding interest. Long finish. Rich, generous wine.”

“Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore (100% Chardonnay) offers superb richness and depth in its candied apricots, flowers, honey and roasted nuts. Made in a generous, ample style, this delicious wine finishes long and sweet, with plenty of stuffing to age gracefully for another decade.”

“Austere in its versatility, unique, very engaging, as only the greatest can be.”

“Enjoy the best of Italy’s sparkling wines, which are also among the best in the world.”

“It’s an undeniably charming wine, very fulfilling, wonderfully evocative.”

“The best Italian sparkling wine, to be drunk alone, or to be paired with raw fish and Venus clams.”

“The house is experimenting – with very positive results – a sparkling wine with some barrel aging, a sign that success, in this case, has only stimulated greater application, not complacency.”

“The winery’s masterpiece, always able to charm with its apparent simplicity that hides complexity and incomparable elegance.”

Tasted from magnum, the 1992 Trento Metodo Classico Extra Brut Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore (disgorged in 2014 with four grams of sugar per liter) has evolved beautifully to show creamy intensity and fine perlage that exhibits surprising persistence given the age of the wine. The bouquet is complex and enticing with a savory component that includes dried fruit, hard cheese rind and bread crust. There is a distant whiff of porcini mushroom cream as well. I am most surprised by the depth and breadth this wine delivers to the palate. It shows tight grip and a long finish.

Now we’re talking. The 2007 Trento Metodo Classico Extra Brut Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore (disgorged in 2018) is a pure expression of Chardonnay. The grapes were fermented in stainless steel, and the wine ages in the bottle on its own yeasts for at least ten years. Perhaps the secret of this flagship sparkling wine is the carefully measured atmospheric pressure that is applied. The medium to full-bodied wine is soft and yielding yet determined and firm at the same time. I just love the lavish intensity of the warm and balanced 2007 vintage. Some 60,000 bottles and 1,500 magnums were made.

Il Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore 2008 è senza dubbio un Giulio di volume, ma è altrettanto certamente un Giuliostraordinariamente ben riuscito, gustoso, coinvolgente. Una sfida ben riuscita, insomma…
Voto: 94/100