Villa I Cipressi

Originally a famed honey farm, Villa i Cipressi branched out into wine production after the Ciacci family's two sons, Dario and Frederico, convinced their father to plant a very small vineyard in order to make Brunello. That was in the early 1990s and the first wine was released in 2000. In the ensuing years the wines have gained an excellent reputation which convinced the family to plant another small vineyard in the northern part of Montalcino bringing the total amount of land under vine to 3.5 hectares. This "northern fruit" is grown at a different altitude (450 metres) and in different soils which provides a real point of difference (aromatic lift in particular) to the "warmer" more pliant style produced off the home vineyard in the south of the zone.

The wines are notionally modern in style and the top wine, Brunello "Zebras", bare a piece of the mural by a local artist (Waltraud Redl) that adorns the cellar walls on the label. PWS