Cerbaia Backgrounder

From its high elevation site on the hill of Montosoli—considered Brunello’s “Grand Cru”, Cerbaia is emerging as a rising star for classically-styled Brunello.

Cerbaia’s site is historic, having been the source of Biondi Santi’s wine that won the World Fair in 1867, but when the Pellegrini family purchased it in 1920, it had fallen idle from war.  When the Brunello market began to emerge in the 1970s with Cru bottlings, 2nd generation Fabio Pellegrini decided it was time to redevelop the site.   

Internationally minded, Fabio studied vineyards in France and attended agronomy school in Florence before returning to the estate. He took a long view on the site, implementing organic farming and green harvesting from the outset, decades before it was the norm.  Fabio’s daughter Elena became winemaker in 2014, and has gained visibility internationally, with favorable ratings from Decanter, Parker, and James Suckling. 

The vineyard is 4.5 ha at 300m in Montosoli, with low-yielding galestro soil.  The pristine area has always been known for deer, symbolized by the 12c fortress nearby called Cerbaia (“of deer”).  To signify their special location, the Pellegrinis named their wine Cerbaia, depicted by a deer on their label. 

Cerbaia winemaking follows a long, natural fermentation and aging in large Slavonian oak casks. Elena sees this as an ideal course of action to exalt the virtues of his high elevation, hillside vineyard to produce wines with enchanting aromas and great finesse.