At the mere mention of Italian sparkling wine, Prosecco is usually the first to come to mind. I have nothing but love for Prosecco, but there are a few others of note, one of which is Trentodoc, a sparkling wine DOC surrounding the city of Trento in Trentino, located in the foothills of the majestic Dolomites mountain range.
The sparkling wine here is made via the metodo classico, or classic method used to make Champagne from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Meunier, and Pinto Blanc grapes. While wine had been made there for centuries, sparkling wine having been produced as far back as the 1850s. Yet, there’s one man to thank for putting the region on the wine map: Giulio Ferrari (no relation to the automobiles). A winemaking student, Ferrari did a stage/internship in Champagne and noticed similarities between the territory in France and the surroundings of his hometown in Trento. He figured the higher altitudes of Trento (which start at 900 meters/3,000 feet) would temper the latitudinal differences, so he brought some vines with him and planted them. He launched his wine in 1902 and sparkling wine history was made.
The region earned DOC status in 1993 and the Trentodoc brand was launched in 2007. Today, there are 57 producers who make this esteemed. bollicine di montagna (sparkling wines of the mountains). This past summer, I spent three days exploring the territory and I wrote a Trentodoc travel guide for Wine4Food.com. You can check it out here.
In addition to Ferrari, I also had the pleasure of visiting Moser, Cesarini Sforza, Revi, and Cantina Romanese, and tasted dozens more! Though this wasn’t my first time in the territory — I visited last summer for a summer picnic hosted by Altemasi, another Trentodoc producer.
It’s an exquisite part of Italy that should be on the bucket lists of all travelers — wine lovers and non-wine lovers alike.
