Cyril Brun reflects on a year at Ferrari Trento

A year after “the transfer of the century” when Cyril Brun swapped Champagne for Trentodoc, db discovers how Ferrari Trento’s new cellar master is adjusting to life in Italy.

It’s not very often that you have dinner with a winemaker where none of the wines presented are ones they’ve made, but Brun’s appointment to become chef de caves of Gruppo Lunelli-owned Italian sparkling wine giant Ferrari Trento in June 2023 may have come as something of a shock.

After a quarter of a century in Champagne, working for Charles Heidsieck and Veuve Clicquot before that, Brun’s move to Trentino (dubbed “the transfer of the cenutry” by Joe Wadsack) may seem like a bold change in direction, but visiting London earlier this month for his first proper introduction to UK journalists since starting the new job, Brun suggested that he was aware of the brand: “I wasn’t familiar with Trentodoc, I was familiar with Ferrari Trento.”

“I felt my job in Champagne was done – I wanted to expand my matrix.”

Brun came in to replace Ruben Larentis who, after a 37-year tenure, retired from the role of Ferrari Trento’s oenologist and technical director.

“Changing chef de caves is a very delicate change – behind the wine are the terroir and the tradition, but also the people,” suggested Gruppo Lunelli CEO Matteo Lunelli.

But, for Lunelli, Brun’s Champagne pedigree makes sense: “Ferrari Trento’s founder, Giulio Ferrari himself learnt how to make traditional method sparkling wine in Champagne.”

Lunelli did clarify that he believed Ferrari Trento’s approach is to make “mountain Chardonnay”, rather than “Champagne in Trentino”.

Brun said that that there are key differences between these two regions, suggesting that in Champagne the sparkling wine was “linked to soil and subsoil, but in Trentino it’s very much linked to altitude”, adding that whether the fruit comes from traditional pergola-trained vines, or increasingly dominate guyot ones also makes a difference, with the former leading to higher yields, at the expense of quality, according to Brun.

A taste of things to come

“Cyril has a very pragmatic approach to tasting,” suggested Lunelli. “He doesn’t have preconceptions – he tastes, and he judges the quality.”

Ferrari Trento owns around 135 hectares, and sources fruit from growers cultivating a further 600ha, though Brun stated that “it’s not everytime that our grapers are better than those of the growers” – he is nevertheless keen to help them on a path towards greater “excellence and sustainability”.

All of the vineyards owned by Ferrari Trento are organic certified. With regards to trying to persuade the growers to go down that route, Brun said: “If you want to convince a grower to get to that level, you have to show that you are at that level – it’s very aspirational, you take risks.”

Asked by one journalist about whether gunning for organic in the damper conditions of Champagne would have been disastrous, he simply said that such a possibility was “very likely”.

Having completed a full cycle at Ferrari Trento now, Brun said that his “vision has changed”: “When I joined, I was convinced of the potential – my idea was not to transform the winery, but to go on the quest for perfection, where there is space for improvement. I questioned why the team did things the way they did…They thought I was an extra terrestrial!”

Among Brun’s experiments are examinations of new clones, new pruning systems (to find the “sweet spot for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir yields at each altitude”), playing with different pressures, and an examination of how different press fractions can increase blending potential. Ferrari Trento has already invested in three more presses ahead of the 2024 harvest, bringing the total to 18. The term he and Lunelli use for this kind of precision is “su misura”, or “tailored” winemaking.

As for how the proud Frenchman is settling in to his new country of residence, Brun shared that his Italian has improved significantly, with him speaking to the team at Ferrari Trento exclusively in the language.

“I think they understand me,” he joked, though he noted that the local dialects spoken by growers are not something he understands quite yet.

For Brun, the biggest shock has been the climate, with the region’s diurnal range being “perfect for phenolic maturation, but it means that you need a coat when drinking outside at night.”

A keen skier, Brun is yet to venture into the mountains to partake in some winter sports, but he expressed keenness to do so. Drawing a comparison between venturing into the Dolomites and his pursuit of perfection, he said: “At some stage when you have climbed the mountain, you can look back and say ‘not bad’.”

Brun has only just set out from base camp at Ferrari Trento, but he has sights firmly set on the summit.