Rose petals and dried cherries give way to flowery underbrush and savory spice as the 2022 Rosso di Montalcino slowly unwinds in the glass. Pure and lifted in style, this boasts a core of vividly ripe red berry fruits that swirl beneath an air of violet inner florals. Saline mineral tones mount through the close. Blood orange and spice hints linger as the 2022 tapers off long and gently tannic. This leaves the mouth salivating.
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Salvioni’s Rosso (a declassified Brunello) is renowned as a brilliant ‘under the radar’ offering and a mini Brunello in every sense. In fact there are many who would argue that in profound years such as 2022 the quality produced competes with many a Brunello.
The altitude, location and microclimate of the area where Rosso di Montalcino originates endow the wine with intense fragrances of forest floor with evident red fruits and ripe cherries as well as a hint of nose-palate elegance which comes from this perfect combination of factors. The ruby colour varies in its intensity from vintage to vintage depending on the ripening of the skins and the anthocyans set during the fermentation phase. Excellent served with cheese. Although there is a high demand for our Rosso di Montalcino, it is produced only when there is a greater yield of grapes during the harvest or if the grapes are not suitable to produce Brunello: for this reason Rosso di Montalcino is not featured yearly in our wine production.
Surrounded by woodland, the 20 hectares of La Cerbaiola look out over the Val d’Orcia from an altitude of 420 metres, opening up like a gently sloping plateau four kilometres to the southeast of Montalcino. The air is clear, a slight breeze rustles the leaves, and on the hillside opposite the outlines of Pienza, San Quirico and Ripa d’Orcia are clearly visible. There are three small vineyards for a total of 4 hectares, each with its own characteristics: soils that vary from chalky schist to stony marl; and subtle differences of micro-climate that influence the ripening of the grapes. All the work in the vineyard is carried out by hand, with hard pruning to obtain low yields of fruit and careful selection during the manual harvest. Production is deliberately limited, to obtain the very best from a unique terroir: 10,000 bottles a year when only Brunello is made; and 15,000 for the years in which there is also some Rosso di Montalcino.
Ours is a family property that has grown from the union of wine with hospitality. Umberto Salvioni, who had studied agriculture, chose to make wine so that he could offer it to his friends. His son Giulio decided to extend the range of friendship, creating a winery that could produce a limited number of bottles of absolute excellence. The first Cerbaiola Brunello was the fruit of the 1985 harvest, to be followed by other remarkable vintages that carried the name of Montalcino and the passion of the Salvionis far further afield. Following his degree in Agriculture, Giulio’s son David joined the family concern to help with vine husbandry and winemaking. More recently, his sister Alessia has completed the team, working alongside her father on marketing, sales and administration.
Pairing Suggestions: Serve with cheese
Maturation: Rosso di Montalcino stays in wood for 12 months and is released on the market the second year after the harvest after a short period of bottle ageing.
