Unveiling Cerbaia: First Stop On Our Wine Odyssey

Our first appointment for the entire trip would be to the small operation of Cerbaia in Brunello di Montalcino. The estate is now in the competent and welcoming hands of Elena Pellegrini, daughter of founder, Fabio Pellegrini. Elena joined her father in 2014.

Fabio established the estate in 1978, converting the family farm to vineyards. A winery followed and the first wines in 1982. They have come a long way since then. The farm has 12 hectares, 4.5 of them producing Brunello. The oldest vines currently in use were planted in 1988 along with other various clones. Elena noted that due to the fog in September, the clones with more space throughout the bunches are preferred, as this helps to prevent disease. They also have 600 trees, from which they make a fabulous olive oil.

The winery is located on the slopes of the Montosoli hill, considered an ideal site within the region. This is one of the very few operations in the region with vines on terraces. Production is now around 18,000 bottles a year, sometimes approaching 20,000. The aim is to increase that, over the next decade, to 30,000. At the moment, the majority of the production goes to the USA. From 1990, they started also making a Rosso di Montalcino.

This is, however, not a place one just drops by. Not because they are not welcoming hosts, but rather, it is seriously difficult to find, even with today’s GPS machines. We went up and down narrow lanes, hill slopes, dirt tracks, back roads and more before, we finally found the back gate.

Natural yeasts are used here, with several pumpovers. Malolactic fermentation is tank. They do not employ barriques in the maturation, Elena noting that was more something one saw in the southern parts of Montalcino. In this part of the region, the tendency is to use larger format oak, a mix of new and old, but much of it older than twenty years. The oak is mid-toast and hails from north-eastern European forests. They do not use any French oak.

Elena talked about the various vintages. 2015 and 2016 are extremely highly rated, though Elena noted that the 2015 were made in the manner of her father and his peers. 2016 is the new wave, made by Elena. The difference, aside from that imbued by the vintage itself, is a lighter hand with a more delicate touch from Elena. Fabio’s wines are superb but exhibit slightly more muscle and exuberance.

2010 is a vintage about which everyone raves. 2018, a personal favourite for the elegance that permeates the wine, is the only cool season in the last ten years. 2019 is a year that Elena raves about – quantity and quality together, “never happens”. 2021 is considered a good, average year, while 2023 was throwing up some challenges, at the time we visited.

The Cerbaia Brunello’s are superb wines, especially if elegance in your wines appeals. They are still excellent value – though as critics in the States start to discover them, who knows how long that will last – but quantities are small.

This may have been the first winery we visited on our wine odyssey, but we knew immediately that we had stumbled on a gem, first up. Sometimes, you get lucky. Anyone with these wines in their cellar in the years to come will consider themselves equally so.