From the atlas
Tenute del Cerro
At A Glance
| |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Tuscany (with Umbrian holdings) |
| Key appellation | Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG |
| Anchor estate | Fattoria del Cerro, Acquaviva, Montepulciano |
| Flagship grape | Prugnolo Gentile (Sangiovese) |
| Other estates | La Poderina (Montalcino), Còlpetrone (Umbria), Villetta di Monterufoli, Montecorona |
| Scale | 300 ha of vineyards across five estates, 5,000 ha of total land |
| Bottle to seek | Marastoni Vino Nobile di Montepulciano |
The Producer
Tenute del Cerro holds more registered vineyard in the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG than any other private producer in the appellation. That position dates to 1978, when the group acquired Fattoria del Cerro in Acquaviva, a hilltop property outside the town of Montepulciano in southern Tuscany that the Baiocchi family had been farming since 1922. The acquisition brought 56 years of established vine history into the group at once.
From that anchor the group expanded across central Italy: La Poderina in Montalcino for Brunello, Còlpetrone in Umbria's Montefalco for Sagrantino, Villetta di Monterufoli on the Tuscan coast, and Montecorona in Umbertide. Today the five estates cover 300 hectares of vineyards within roughly 5,000 hectares of land. CEO Antonio Donato leads the group, which is also part of the Wine Research Team, a network of 35 producers sharing vineyard and cellar research.
The range covers three distinct red wine identities: Sangiovese in its Montepulciano guise, Sangiovese in its Montalcino guise, and Sagrantino in Umbria. Each estate operates from its own appellation and its own grape character, but the scale of the Vino Nobile holdings at Fattoria del Cerro gives the group its clearest public face.
Place
Acquaviva sits on the slopes below the fortified hilltop of Montepulciano, in the province of Siena. The landscape is inland Tuscany at its most compact: clay-rich soils, moderate elevation, and an orientation that shifts from south-facing to east-facing across the estate's 181 hectares under vine. That range of exposition matters because no single vintage ripens every parcel equally. With 93 hectares registered for Vino Nobile, Fattoria del Cerro can select the parcels best suited to each year rather than committing to a single block.
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG is a classified red wine appellation built on Prugnolo Gentile, a Sangiovese variant long adapted to this particular clay terrain and inland climate. The appellation name includes Montepulciano as the town, not as a grape: Vino Nobile has no connection to the Montepulciano grape used in Abruzzo. The wine must be predominantly Prugnolo Gentile and carries mandatory ageing requirements before release.
The group's Umbrian estate, Còlpetrone, sits in Gualdo Cattaneo in the Montefalco zone. Sagrantino, the grape at the centre of Montefalco's DOCG classification, is native to Umbria and produces wines of extreme tannin, deep colour, and slow development. The appellation requires extended ageing before release and delivers a different wine from anything the Tuscan estates produce.
Soil And Site
Fattoria del Cerro's 600 hectares of total property encompass varied soil types and slope aspects. The clay-dominant soils around Acquaviva retain moisture through dry summers and give Prugnolo Gentile a firm tannic base. The estate's multiple vineyard exposures allow harvest decisions to track ripeness across parcels rather than averaging it across one large plot.
At La Poderina in Montalcino, the galestro and alberese soils typical of the Brunello zone give Sangiovese Grosso the drainage and mineral contact associated with aged Brunello's earthy depth. At Còlpetrone the hillside orientation supports Sagrantino through its long growing season, and the winery itself is built into the slope to take advantage of the natural thermal mass of the hillside.
Story
Fattoria del Cerro existed as a working estate for more than half a century before Tenute del Cerro arrived. The Baiocchi family had farmed the Acquaviva property since 1922, and when the group took ownership in 1978, it inherited both the vines and an established position in the Montepulciano winemaking community. The group's founding year brought two properties at once: Montecorona in Umbertide and Fattoria del Cerro in Siena.
Expansion came in stages. La Poderina in Montalcino added Brunello to the portfolio. Còlpetrone in Umbria represented a deliberate move into Sagrantino before the grape's reputation outside Italy had fully formed. Villetta di Monterufoli extended the group to the Tuscan coast. Each acquisition added a different appellation and a different grape rather than duplicating the Vino Nobile position.
Today the group is embedded in the Wine Research Team alongside 34 other producers, sharing experimental vineyard and cellar work across the network. That research orientation shapes how the estates approach vineyard management and winemaking decisions without operating in isolation from broader Italian wine knowledge.
Vineyards And Cellar
At Fattoria del Cerro, the 93 registered hectares are farmed for Vino Nobile selection across varied exposures. The estate's stated approach is to match parcel selection to vintage character: a warm year draws on earlier-ripening parcels, a cooler year on south-facing blocks. Prugnolo Gentile responds well to this kind of vintage-specific sourcing because the clone accumulates tannin reliably across different sites but reaches aromatic completeness on a narrower window.
La Poderina holds yields to an average of 60 quintals per hectare, against a regulatory ceiling of 80. Wines mature in French oak barriques alongside large barrels, giving the cellar two ageing registers: the aromatic integration that comes from smaller oak and the structural broadening that comes from large-format ageing.
At Còlpetrone, the winery inaugurated in 2005 is embedded directly into the hillside. The design keeps vinification and ageing spaces at constant temperature and humidity without relying on energy-intensive mechanical systems. The 63 hectares under vine include 35 devoted to four Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG wines, a grape that requires years in barrel and bottle before its tannin softens to drinkability.
Wines
Fattoria del Cerro produces Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG and a Riserva from its Acquaviva vineyards. The Marastoni label represents the standard appellation wine: predominantly Prugnolo Gentile with a smaller proportion of Merlot, sourced from multiple parcels within the estate. The Riserva level draws on stricter selection and carries longer mandatory ageing before release, producing a wine with firmer tannin and a more concentrated mid-palate than the standard Vino Nobile.
La Poderina contributes Rosso di Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino from Sangiovese Grosso, the Brunello clone. The Rosso is the earlier-release wine, aged for a shorter period with more direct cherry fruit and lighter body. Brunello di Montalcino carries a five-year minimum ageing requirement and builds to dried fruit, leather, and earthy depth.
Còlpetrone produces four Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG wines from 35 hectares. Sagrantino in glass is dense and tannic, with dark fruit, dried herb, and a long, firm finish that takes years to resolve. The grape produces one of Italy's most tannic red wines and demands patience from both producer and buyer.
Across the group's range the three main styles are distinct: the cherry-led, herb-threaded acidity of Vino Nobile; the earthier, more austere depth of Brunello; and the concentrated, almost muscular tannin of Sagrantino.
In The Glass
The Marastoni Vino Nobile opens with sour cherry and dried cherry on the nose, followed by dried herbs and a thread of mineral. The palate carries the characteristic acidity of Prugnolo Gentile, which cuts through the fruit and keeps the wine from sitting heavy. Merlot adds a rounding note to the mid-palate without softening the overall frame. The finish is firm and moderately long, with tannin that grips without roughness after 18 months of élevage.
Brunello from La Poderina develops differently in the glass. The Sangiovese Grosso clone at Montalcino produces wines that are earthier and more closed in youth, with dried red fruit, a leathery note, and the sustained acid line that supports decade-long ageing. The oak combination of barriques and large barrels gives the wine aromatic complexity without excessive vanilla or spice.
Sagrantino from Còlpetrone is the most demanding style in the range. Deep ruby with a violet edge, the wine delivers dark plum, dark chocolate, dried herbs, and a tannin mass that remains insistent even after extended barrel time. It is a wine that needs food or age, preferably both.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with the Marastoni Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. It is Prugnolo Gentile with a portion of Merlot, sourced from multiple parcels across the estate's 93 registered hectares and aged 18 months before release. In the glass it gives sour cherry, dried herbs, and a clean mineral note, with firm acidity on the palate and tannin that holds the finish without dominating it. The Merlot softens the mid-palate just enough to make the wine approachable without stripping the Prugnolo Gentile character that defines the appellation. It is the right first bottle because it delivers the grape, the place, and the appellation style at a scale and price that suits exploration before committing to the Riserva or the Brunello.
Anecdote
At the end of the 1980s, Còlpetrone made a decision that most Italian wine producers were not making: it committed its vineyards in Gualdo Cattaneo to Montefalco Sagrantino, a grape that at that moment had almost no international reputation and was known to very few buyers outside Umbria. The variety is native to the Montefalco zone, capable of extreme tannin and deep colour, and it had spent decades producing wine mainly consumed locally. Còlpetrone planted and registered for the appellation, trained its viticulture around the grape's long growing season, and then built a winery into the hillside in 2005 to match the commitment: vinification and ageing rooms embedded into the slope, temperature and humidity held constant by the mass of the hill rather than by machinery. The wine that came out of that investment, Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG, required years in barrel and years in bottle before it resolved into something a drinker would recognise as generous. The estate stayed with the grape.
Final Word
Tenute del Cerro is a multi-estate group built around one of Italy's most historically grounded red wine appellations. Fattoria del Cerro's 93 registered hectares in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano gives the group a scale in the appellation that no other private producer matches, and the range extends from that anchor into Brunello di Montalcino at La Poderina and Montefalco Sagrantino at Còlpetrone. The three estates cover three distinct Italian red wine identities. Begin with the Marastoni Vino Nobile to understand the Prugnolo Gentile character and the Montepulciano appellation, then move outward.
Sources
- https://www.tenutedelcerro.it/en/about-en
- https://www.tenutedelcerro.it/en/estate/fattoria-del-cerro-en
- https://www.tenutedelcerro.it/en/estate/la-poderina-en
- https://www.tenutedelcerro.it/en/estate/colpetrone-en
- https://viaswine.com/wineries/fattoria-del-cerro/
- https://www.livetsgoda.se/vino-nobile-di-montepulciano-ett-av-italiens-klassiska-rodviner/
- https://vinlagraren.se/viner/marastoni-vino-nobile-di-montepulciano/
- https://www.vinguiden.com/produkter/marastoni-vino-nobile-di-montepulciano/