Salvioni owns La Cerbaiola vineyard in the southeast of the commune, a plot universally recognised as one of the great ‘crus’ of the village. From this tiny 4-hectare site, he makes one of the greatest and most sought-after wines in the entire appellation.
The secrets of his success are well-known: old vines, low yields, exacting standards (anything that is not up to scratch is declassified to Rosso di Montalcino, including the entire of the 2014 and 2017 vintages), and the help of Attilio Pagli as winemaking consultant (he assisted with the wines at cult estate, Soldera) means that the recipe for greatness is a simple one.
Alessia, Giulio’s daughter, is responsible for escorting one around the tiny cellar in the heart of Montalcino. Here tradition is king. Maceration is as long as 30 days and wines are aged in six 2,000-litre Slovanian oak casks in the domestic cellar of the family home. Aging can be as short as the required two years, or even longer if the vintage allows for it.
What ends up in the bottle are wines with an incredible purity, transparency and elegance. This is accompanied by an underlying structure that comes so naturally from healthy, old vines with low yields. Salvioni’s wines are a triumph for the region and the only negative is that there is so little to go around. The Salvioni family represents and reflects the truly artisanal side of fine wine, something that is more of a rarity in this modern world.
