Trentodoc welcomes its first Champagne 'émigré'

By James Lawrence

Published: 16 June, 2023

Cyril Brun has become the first French national to take up residence at a Trentodoc winery, accepting the position of technical director at Ferrari Trento.

Brun cut his teeth at Veuve Clicquot – where he worked alongside Dominique Demarville – before joining Charles Heidsieck as chef de cave in 2015.

However, after eight years at the iconic house, owned by the EPI group, Brun (pictured, centre, with Ferrari team) has decided to embrace life in northern Italy. He replaces Ruben Larentis, who joined Ferrari Trento in the 1980s, and has now retired.

“I first met the owners and winemaking team at Ferrari Trento about seven years ago,” Brun told Harpers.

“Over the years we've had many conversations about working here. But the real catalyst was the pandemic: during lockdown I spent a lot of time thinking about my future – like everyone else. I realised that after 25 years in Champagne, I was ready for a new challenge; a bit of spice in my life you could say. I was worried about getting too comfortable.”

Brun's achievements are many and he resurrected the once moribund cuvée Champagne Charlie during his tenure at the house, relaunched last year.

Yet he told Harpers that “without wanting to sound arrogant, I'd probably reached a ceiling in terms of what I could achieve in Champagne”.

After merely a week in the role, Brun was tentative about discussing his plans for Ferrari Trento – can we expect a major shakeup at this well-established sparkling brand?

“It's too soon to talk about new plans and strategies,” he said. “But I do have some ideas that are in the early stages of development: incorporating more Pinot Noir into the blends, increasing the amount of reserves used, and playing around with the dosage are all possibilities.”

Brun's decision to leave Champagne for the Alpine scenery of Trentino-Alto Adige has caused quite a stir – both on and off social media. Speaking to Harpers, it is clear he has no regrets.

He said: “The opportunity to create traditional method sparkling wines from the unique, mountainous terroirs of Trentino is a privilege and an exciting opportunity to apply my knowledge and experience to a new context.”

And yet, he added that relocating to Italy was “the most complex and difficult decisions I have ever taken in my life”.

When pushed, Brun admitted that: “It took a long time to decide to take the plunge – I needed some arm-twisting. This was such a major life-changing decision and my family will not join me until next year so I plan on a lot of commuting. However, the Italian wine journalist Alberto Lupetti convinced me this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I owe him a lot.”

With high expectations for vintage 2023, Brun will surely take Trentodoc's seminal sparkling wine house in exciting new directions.

Ferrari Trento was founded in 1902 by Giulio Ferrari. Its current owners the Lunelli family have been custodians of the brand since 1952.

Harpers is partnering with Ferrari Trento on Thursday 6 July to host a round table discussion, 'Talking Quality Fizz, Italian Style', the findings of which will appear in the following print and digital issues.

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