2020 Cerbaiona Brunello di Montalcino 750 ml

At the very top of Brunello di Montalcino sits a small group of estates whose wines define what Sangiovese is capable of. Cerbaiona is one of them—a tiny property whose bottles turn up on the lists at Michelin-starred restaurants and in serious collections, and almost nowhere else.

The estate was founded in 1977 by Diego Molinari, a retired Alitalia pilot whose run of Brunellos built a reputation that collectors still chase decades later. In late 2015, Molinari sold Cerbaiona to a group led by American collector Gary Rieschel, with Matthew Fioretti taking over the winemaking.

Fioretti converted the 4.5-hectare estate to strict organic farming, replanted the vineyards to the traditional alberello, or bush-vine, method, and rebuilt the cellar into a modern working atelier.

The vineyards sit at roughly 400 meters on an east-northeast-facing ridge, in galestro—the schist-based shale that drains hard and forces the vines deep. The elevation and exposure keep the fruit cool and slow to ripen, which is exactly what Sangiovese needs: perfume, acidity, and fine tannin rather than sheer weight.

That cool, high site is what makes Cerbaiona so compelling in 2020. The summer ran warm across Montalcino, and the top hillside sites—cooler, higher, slower—made the wines with the freshness and lift that define the year at its best. Robb Report called it “One of the Best of the Century” in Montalcino.

In the glass, the 2020 pours a bright red core, with black raspberry, grenadine, and crushed violets leading to warm spice and the graphite edge that galestro leaves behind. It is medium to full, with broader shoulders and more flesh than the 2021, ripe tannins, and a finish that stays long and refined.