Cerbaiona | FINE+RARE

About the producer

Cerbaiona is widely recognised as one of the top Brunello di Montalcino estates. Its vineyards are unique, located on the Cerbaiona hill, just northeast of the Montalcino town, and neighbouring another Brunello icon – Salvioni.

The success of Sangiovese grown on this specific site long pre-dates the history of the Brunello appellation. There have been vineyards located here for hundreds of years, with the wine historically known simply as coming from Cerbaiona. The soil is a distinct limestone shale infused with sand and – according to Cerbaiona’s winemaker – Matthew Fioretti, “almost by doing nothing, you can make an exceptional wine at Cerbaiona. Its vineyard location is that special and unique.”

It was the dedication and hard work of Diego Molinari that established Cerbaiona’s reputation as one of the leading names in Montalcino. Having worked as a pilot for Alitalia for 25 years and earning his nickname, “The Commander”, Molinari retired in 1977 to follow his passion for wine. He and his wife Nora bought the property the same year, replanting and expanding the historic site. The first vintage of Brunello di Montalcino produced under the Cerbaiona label was 1981, released in 1985.

From the outset, Molinari was inspired by Biondi Santi’s very traditional style of Brunello and believed in producing only lightly extracted and light-coloured wines that were built for long ageing. He became known for his meticulous grape selection, using grapes only from the lower part of the vine. He was also close to and influenced by Giulio Gambelli, a long-term consultant to some of Brunello’s greats, including Gianfranco Soldera and latterly Piero Palmucci’s Poggio di Sotto. Gambelli promoted a lighter touch when it came to extraction, in order to preserve the elegance and delicacy that Sangiovese is capable of, despite a richer, more full-bodied Brunello being more fashionable at the time. It was this elegance in style that cemented Cerbaiona as one of Montalcino’s greats today.

Due to ill health Molinari sold the estate in 2015, and Matthew Fioretti became the new custodian. On taking over the winery, it became clear to Fioretti that both the vineyards and winery required serious rehabilitation. Fioretti praises Molinari’s legacy and the work he had done to raise the profile of the Brunello appellation, but knew that the estate desperately needed modernisation. Fioretti’s outlook is very much inspired by what he calls the “tectonic shift” in winemaking in Italy (and elsewhere) over the last 30 years, with a move towards precision viticulture and a more hygienic approach to winemaking. Fioretti sees this as a change in mindset from winemaking as an art form to winemaking as craftmanship. In his mind, it was the pioneering efforts of producers like Romano del Forno in Valpolicella and Luciano Sandrone in Barolo which have shown what can be achieved in Italy when these become the guiding principles of an estate. Fioretti’s wines will no doubt be compared to Molinari’s and it will be a fascinating comparison regarding the effects of vine material and age, viticultural techniques and winemaking practices versus the influence of this estate’s very special terroir.

In the winery

On taking over the property in 2015 it was clear to Fioretti that the vineyards were in desperate need of renovation. They had been planted with the material that was available at the time, but there had since been massive development in terms of the clones and rootstocks of Sangiovese available to producers. Fioretti retained and harvested the oldest vineyards at Cerbaiona for four harvests and interacted with top agronomists. “We made many attempts to overcome the shortcomings of these rootstocks and clones (which tended to produce enormous bunches, especially in wet years). But we all agreed: the sooner we replanted, the better off Cerbaiona would be.” As he undertook this major work, Fioretti declassified the wine, with 2016 the first vintage of Brunello di Montalcino released from the revamped Cerbaiona.

Fioretti has made significant changes to promote the long-term health of the vineyards. Since taking over the property the estate has embarked on a six-year replanting program (scheduled to be completed in 2021). The original three hectares of vineyards (of which one hectare was made up of Bordeaux varieties) have been completely replanted to Sangiovese. An additional hectare of olive groves located on the steepest slope, which Fioretti believes is the finest on the estate, has also been replaced with vines. Where possible, vines have been planted at a higher density and Fioretti has also converted the property to organic viticulture.

In the vineyard

The winery was completely renovated in 2015-16, with all new material and equipment brought in, partly to eliminate the Brettanomyces that was present in the winery and barrel rooms. Today the wines are fermented in open-top oak fermenters using ambient yeasts, no temperature control and low sulphite additions. After pressing – in which free run and press wines are kept separate (the latter goes into Cerbaiona Rosso) – and malolactic, the three best tanks are racked into four 17-hectolitre oval casks and become the Brunello. The Brunello spends two years in cask and is racked just once a year. Following the second racking, the wine rests in stainless steel to await bottling the following May. Fioretti aims to move the wine as little as possible post fermentation, trying to ensure the right contact with lees, protect the wine from oxygen but control for reduction, and reduce the sulphur additions.

About the producer