Italy · Trento DOC (Trentino Metodo Classico)

Tenuta Lunelli

The still-wine arm of the Ferrari Trento family, farming three organically certified estates across Trentino, Tuscany, and Umbria.

The producer

The Lunelli family built Ferrari Trento into one of Italy's most recognised sparkling-wine names after Bruno Lunelli acquired Giulio Ferrari's original Trentino winery in 1952. Tenute Lunelli is the still-wine portfolio the family constructed alongside Ferrari Trento: three organically certified estates, each in a different Italian region, each farming to the conditions its ground demands. Tenuta Margon sits on rocky slopes above Trento at 350 to 600 metres above sea level, its sandy, stone-strewn soils and cool Alpine nights shaping the estate's mountain whites and the Maso Margon vineyard that supplies grapes for Ferrari Riserva Lunelli. Tenuta Podernovo makes red wine in Tuscany. Tenuta Castelbuono farms 30 hectares of Sagrantino and Sangiovese in the Montefalco and Bevagna area of Umbria, where the family built the Carapace winery, a sculptural dome set into the hillside, over six years before opening it in 2012.

The Umbrian estate produces Ziggurat, a Montefalco Rosso that blends 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Merlot. Sagrantino is one of the most tannic grape varieties grown in Italy, and even at 15% of the blend it contributes to Ziggurat's dry, gripping firmness that the Sangiovese majority frames with acidity and dark cherry lift. Sangiovese and Sagrantino mature in tonneaux and large casks for 12 months; Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon go into barriques. All three estates hold organic certification, earned across five years: Podernovo in 2012, Castelbuono in 2014, and Margon in 2017. Matteo Lunelli serves as CEO of Gruppo Lunelli; Marcello Lunelli is president.

Known for

Sagrantino-led blends from organically farmed Umbrian vineyards; mountain viticulture on rocky Alpine slopes above Trento.

Notable facts

The story

The Bottles No One Was Supposed to Open

In 1972, Mauro Lunelli set aside bottles from that year's Ferrari production without telling anyone he had done so. He opened them with his brothers in 1980. Eight years in the cellar had done something no one fully expected: the wines were in better condition than almost any bottle they had tasted from the house's more recent releases. The brothers sat with that information for a while. What it suggested was that Ferrari's best Chardonnay, given time, could develop in ways the standard release schedule was not built to demonstrate. That private experiment led directly to the creation of Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore, named for the man who had founded the house in 1902. The Riserva del Fondatore is now Ferrari's prestige bottling, released only in the best years, and its existence traces back to one cellar door that Mauro opened when no one was watching.

From the atlas

Tenuta Lunelli

At A Glance

The Producer

The Lunelli family became one of Italy's most recognised sparkling-wine names through Ferrari Trento, the Trentino house Bruno Lunelli acquired in 1952 from its founder, Giulio Ferrari, fifty years after Ferrari first planted vines there. Tenute Lunelli is what the family built alongside that reputation: a still-wine portfolio across three Italian regions, each estate farmed organically and each making wine from a different soil type, climate, and grape tradition.

Tenuta Margon is the home estate, sitting on rocky slopes in the hills above Trento. The land connects directly to the Lunelli family's sparkling-wine history: the Maso Margon vineyard on Mount Bondone supplies grapes for Ferrari Riserva Lunelli, a Trentodoc. Tenuta Castelbuono, bought in 2001, farms 30 hectares of Sagrantino and Sangiovese in Montefalco and Bevagna in Umbria. Tenuta Podernovo produces red wine in Tuscany. Matteo Lunelli serves as CEO of Gruppo Lunelli; Marcello Lunelli is president.

Place

The three estates occupy three distinct Italian landscapes, and each one shapes a different kind of wine.

Tenuta Margon stands on steep slopes surrounding the city of Trento in Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy's northernmost wine region. Altitude rules here: the vineyards run from 350 to 600 metres above sea level, where cool nights during the growing season slow ripening and preserve acidity in the grapes. The soils are mainly sandy with a high concentration of rocks, which drain quickly and push roots deep. These conditions favour Chardonnay and the aromatic mountain whites that Trentino produces best, though the estate also grows varieties for its still range.

Tenuta Castelbuono occupies flatter, warmer ground in Umbria, in the Montefalco denomination near Bevagna. Montefalco is where Sagrantino grows: a native Umbrian grape of exceptional tannin weight and dark fruit, capable of producing wines that need years to open. The appellation permits Sagrantino di Montefalco as a single-variety wine and Montefalco Rosso as a blend in which Sangiovese carries most of the volume. Castelbuono works within that second category, blending Sagrantino into a Sangiovese-led red.

Soil And Site

At Tenuta Margon, the soils are mainly sandy and contain a high proportion of rocks. The Maso Margon vineyard on Mount Bondone sits between 400 and 500 metres above sea level, a narrower band within the estate's broader altitude range, and it is from this specific parcel that Ferrari draws the grapes for Riserva Lunelli.

At Tenuta Castelbuono, the Umbrian soils carry the clay weight typical of central Italian inland plains, holding moisture through dry summers and giving Sagrantino and Sangiovese the depth they need to build dark fruit and firm tannin. The 30-hectare holding spans parcels in Bevagna and Montefalco.

Story

The family's Trentino roots go back to 1952, when Bruno Lunelli acquired the winery Giulio Ferrari had built from 1902. Ferrari had trained in Champagne and returned to Trentino with Chardonnay cuttings and an idea: that the Alto Adige mountains could produce Italian sparkling wine by the traditional method. Bruno Lunelli carried that project forward and the house grew into a major name in Trentodoc.

The Tenute Lunelli estates came later, as the next generation looked to make still wine without abandoning the family's Trentino anchor. In 2001, drawn to the power of Sagrantino in Umbria, the family bought Tenuta Castelbuono, a 30-hectare estate in Montefalco and Bevagna. The acquisition came with an immediate architectural ambition: the family commissioned a building on the estate that would become the Carapace winery, a sculptural dome set into the Umbrian hillside. It took six years to complete and opened in 2012. Organic certification followed across all three estates, staggered over five years: Podernovo in 2012, Castelbuono in 2014, and Margon in 2017.

The organic commitment was not simultaneous across the group, and that staging matters. Converting a mountain estate in Trentino, where weather is more variable and disease pressure different, on a separate timeline from a warm Umbrian estate reflects the practical reality of farming three different climates rather than a single corporate decision applied top-down.

Vineyards And Cellar

At Tenuta Margon, the vineyards are trained using two systems: the traditional one-armed Trentino pergola, which spreads the canopy horizontally and has been the standard training method in this region for generations, and the Guyot system, which is more common in Burgundy and produces a more vertical canopy with greater sun exposure. Vine density runs between 4,000 and 4,500 plants per hectare. The combination of systems within a single estate suggests different parcels are managed differently based on slope and exposure.

At Tenuta Castelbuono, the élevage for Ziggurat separates the varieties by oak vessel. Sangiovese and Sagrantino go into tonneaux and large casks, which allow slow, gentle oxygenation without imposing heavy new-oak character on grapes that already carry significant tannin. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon spend time in barriques, where the smaller vessel and greater wood contact add more texture and spice. All components age for 12 months in wood, then spend a further six months or more in bottle before release.

Wines

The range divides cleanly by estate and by the wines each region supports.

Tenuta Margon produces still wines from the mountain slopes above Trento. The specific bottles in the current range were not fully documented in the available sources, but the estate's altitude and sandy, rocky soils favour crisp, acid-driven whites and lighter reds built for Alpine conditions.

Tenuta Castelbuono's core wine is Ziggurat, a Montefalco Rosso produced from organically farmed parcels in Bevagna and Montefalco. The 2023 vintage blends 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Merlot, a construction in which Sangiovese provides the framework and Sagrantino supplies tannin density, dark fruit, and grip. Sagrantino is one of the most tannic grape varieties grown in Italy: even at 15% of the blend it adds considerable weight and the capacity to age. The international varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, round the edges and add mid-palate fruit without dominating the blend's central Italian character.

Tenuta Castelbuono also has the capacity, under the Montefalco denomination, to produce a Sagrantino di Montefalco as a varietal wine, though the packet's documented focus is Ziggurat.

Tenuta Podernovo in Tuscany produces red wine, though the specific range and grape composition were not available in the sources behind this page.

In The Glass

Ziggurat opens with dark fruit: plum and blackberry from the Sangiovese and Sagrantino at its core, with a cedary, slightly earthy note from the oak élevage in tonneaux and large casks. In the mouth, the Sagrantino makes itself felt quickly: firm, dry tannin that grips through the mid-palate without bitterness, the kind of tannin that needs time in bottle to soften or food to balance. The Sangiovese provides acidity and a lifted, slightly floral quality that keeps the wine from feeling heavy despite the Sagrantino's weight. The Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon contribute a rounder mid-palate, fleshy fruit that sits between the Sangiovese's lift and the Sagrantino's austerity. The finish is long and dry, marked by the tannin grip and a faint herbal note from the Cabernet fraction. At least six months in bottle after the 12-month wood ageing means the wine arrives with some early softening, but the Sagrantino component ensures it will continue to develop over several years.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Ziggurat Montefalco Rosso from Tenuta Castelbuono. It is the estate's central wine, the one that brings the Umbrian terroir, the Sagrantino grape, and the cellar approach together in a single bottle. The blend puts Sangiovese in the majority role, while the 15% Sagrantino contributes tannin. Twelve months in tonneaux and large casks, followed by six months further ageing, means the wine arrives with enough integration to drink within a few years of the vintage while carrying the capacity to improve further in the cellar. It is dark, firm, and dry, with enough fruit and acidity from the Sangiovese to hold it together, and enough grip from the Sagrantino to make it memorable at the table.

Anecdote

In 1972, Mauro Lunelli quietly set aside bottles from that year's Ferrari production without telling anyone he had done so. He opened them with his brothers in 1980. Eight years in the cellar had done something no one fully expected: the wines were in better condition than almost any bottle they had tasted from the house's more recent releases. The brothers sat with that information for a while. What it suggested was that Ferrari's best Chardonnay, given time, could develop in ways the standard release schedule was not built to demonstrate. That private experiment in 1980 led directly to the creation of Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore, named for the man who had originally founded the house in 1902. The Riserva del Fondatore is now Ferrari's prestige bottling, released only in the best years. The drawing on every bottle of Riserva Lunelli today carries the same family name that Mauro brought to that cellar with a corkscrew in hand.

Final Word

Tenute Lunelli is not a simple story to tell because it spans three regions, three soils, and two wine styles, sparkling in Trentino and still across Umbria and Tuscany. What holds it together is the organic commitment across every estate and the family's willingness to farm at the conditions each place demands, altitude and rock in Trentino, Sagrantino weight and Umbrian sun at Castelbuono. Ziggurat is where that ambition is most clearly documented.

Sources

Open Tenuta Lunelli in the interactive map →