8 Hectares

Trebbiano, Canaiolo, Colorino, Grenache, Merlot, Sangiovese

Sandy Clay, Limestone

Maddalena’s family has owned the Cigliano di Sopra estate for the last century, but for many years it was only partially active, making wine to be sold locally. Her love for animals and nature initially drove her in the direction of veterinary school, but somehow, the magic of her childhood home came calling, and she switched to studying winemaking and viticulture. Matteo grew up in between Florence and the Chianti Classico region, and grew up on Sangiovese. He realized his passion was to make wine in his home region, so he also decided to pursue viticulture and winemaking after school. They both ended up working in wineries in California, including the renowned Domaine de La Cote and Evening Land from Raj Parr. It was there that Maddalena and Matteo met, bonding in their shared passion for Chianti, Sangiovese, and not long after, the seeds of Cigliano di Sopra’s renewal was born. 

The vine age is on average 25-30 years old and trained with head-spur cordon, at a density of about 5000 vines per hectare. The estate is organically farmed with biodynamic principles. Vineyards are played out in an amphitheatre surrounding the hill of Cigliano ranging from 200-300 masl. The winemaking is straightforward, and focused on respecting tradition. Grapes are destemmed before a two to three week maceration. The wines are fermented in open-top steel tanks and some in concrete, and depending on requirements of the DOC or DOCG aged in wood. The fermentation happens with spontaneous yeasts, and there is no fining or filtering of the wines before bottling. Any SO2 usage is kept to an absolute minimum.