Montalcino's twin peaks are Soldera and Biondi-Santi, but there's a small handful of estates that are gaining reputations as being right behind those two super-stars. At the top of the list is Cerbaiona. Diego Molinari,... Read More

Montalcino's twin peaks are Soldera and Biondi-Santi, but there's a small handful of estates that are gaining reputations as being right behind those two super-stars. At the top of the list is Cerbaiona. Diego Molinari, former owner and winemaker, has a similar story to Gianfranco. He retired after 25 years as an Alitalia pilot and bought a small estate in Montalcino in the late '70s. He has always been committed to traditional, "hands-off" winemaking. The wines are fermented with native yeasts in concrete and aged in large oak casks. The result is world-class Sangiovese, aromatic, elegantly-fruited and balanced by good structure and underlying savory minerality.