Cerbaiona

Cerbaiona is one of the most renowned wineries in Brunello di Montalcino. The estate is tiny, sits just east of the town of Montalcino, and has gone through two clear chapters: the cult years under founder Diego Molinari, and a full-scale rebuild under American owner Matthew Fioretti since 2015.

History

Diego Molinari spent 25 years as an Alitalia pilot before retiring in the late 1970s and, together with his wife Nora, buying the Cerbaiona estate in 1977. The vineyard site itself had a much older reputation, with wines from the Cerbaiona hill known for centuries before the Brunello appellation existed. Molinari drew inspiration from traditionalist estates like Biondi-Santi, and by the early 1980s his Brunello was a collector's item, regularly mentioned alongside Soldera and Salvioni at the top of the Montalcino pyramid.

In 2015, at the age of 84, Molinari sold the estate to a group led by American wine importer Matthew Fioretti, who now runs it day to day. Fioretti made the bold decision to declassify the 2014 and 2015 Brunellos to Rosso di Montalcino, rebuilt the cellar, and replanted all three original hectares of vineyard between 2016 and 2021, adding roughly one hectare on a steep former olive slope. Andrea Balducci, a Plumpton-trained oenologist, is part of the current team.

The Vineyards

Cerbaiona covers around 4.5 hectares in total, on the Cerbaiona hill northeast of Montalcino, right next to Salvioni. The vines sit at around 350 metres and mostly face east. Since 2016, replanting has been done with different spacing and training systems tailored to each plot, including a return to alberello (bush vine) training, which has nearly disappeared in Montalcino.

Terroir

Cerbaiona sits in an intermediate zone between the fresher northern side of Montalcino and the warmer, riper south. The result is Sangiovese that blends ripeness with structure and freshness. The soils are rocky gravel over a base of galestro (limestone shale) and alberese (marl limestone, high in calcium carbonate), with sand in places. The east-facing slope and 350-metre altitude give cool mornings and good air circulation, which helps preserve acidity.

Grapes

Sangiovese Grosso is the grape for the Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino, in line with the appellation rules. Small plantings of Bordeaux varieties are used in the IGT Grammatica.

Winemaking

The farming has been organic since 2015. In the cellar, the approach is hands-off but more precise than in the Molinari years. Grapes are hand-picked, sorted carefully, and destemmed with a paddle destemmer.

Fermentation happens in open-top wood tanks (15 to 30 hl) with native yeasts, with limited pump-overs and manual punch-downs to avoid over-extraction. No additives are used beyond sulfur. Aging for the Brunello is now around 18 months in 350-litre oak barrels, followed by time in unlined concrete, plus further bottle aging before release.

The Wines

The range is small. The Brunello di Montalcino is the flagship, made in roughly 10,000 to 15,000 bottles depending on the vintage. The Rosso di Montalcino is produced in smaller quantities (a few thousand bottles) and sees less oak. Grammatica, a Sangiovese IGT sometimes blended with Bordeaux varieties, is the earlier-drinking wine.

Since 2022, a second selection called Le Colline M.L. has been added for Brunello and Rosso, honouring the memory of Molinari. The style across the board is classically Montalcino: red-cherry fruit, firm tannins, bright acidity and the ability to age for decades.