1995 Cerbaiona Toscana Rosso

Cerbaiona is just east of Montalcino. It was founded in the late 1970s when Diego Molinari retired from his career as an airline pilot and with his wife Nora bought the 8-acre estate, which was in disrepair. The Molinaris built the estate into a highly esteemed producer known for its Brunello di Montalcino, though it also makes a Rosso di Montalcino. The wines win high praise from reviewers, including Gambero Rosso, Italy’s leading wine journal, which frequently awards Cerbaiona wines with 3 glasses, the highest rating. In 2015 Oregon-based venture capitalist Gary Rieschel led an investment group who purchased the winery from the Molinaris. Rieschel and the Molinaris are long-time friends. Robert M. Parker Jr. has written that “Diego Molinari regularly turns out some of the most inspiring wines in the region. His Brunello is a classically built, structured wine that expresses the very essence of Sangiovese from Montalcino.”

Tuscany, or Toscana in Italian, is Italy’s best-known wine region and its most diverse. Historically Sangiovese was the primary grape grown in Tuscany and Chianti was considered the purest expression of Sangiovese. Sangiovese and its many clones are still important, and they are the grapes used for the Tuscan appellations of Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Chianti, Chianti Classico and Carmignano. But in the last 50 years innovative producers, many of them in southwestern Tuscany in the area called Maremma, have also planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. The tradition defying producers have blended those varietals with Sangiovese to produce dazzling wines that do not conform to Italy’s appellation regulations. Such wines are called Super Tuscans and cannot be labeled with either of Italy’s highest level quality designations, which are in order of status Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantia, (DOCG), and Denominazione di Origine Controllata, (DOC). (This has not at all hindered the demand for Super Tuscans, some of which are consistently among the world’s most admired and well-reviewed wines.) Tuscany has six DOCG appellations and thirty-four DOCs. Though famous for its red wines, Tuscany also produces whites made primarily from Trebbiano and Vernaccia. There are also many Tuscan Indicazione Geographica Tipica (IGT) wines that are often an innovative blend of traditional and non-traditional grapes. This relatively new appellation status was started in 1992 as an attempt to give an official classification to Italy’s many newer blends that do fit the strict requirements of DOC and DOCG classifications. IGT wines may use the name of the region and varietal on their label or in their name.