Italy · Romagna Hills (Forlì-Cesena, Ravenna, Rimini)

Valle delle Lepri

Organic hillside estate south of Rimini farming Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon across three generations, with spontaneous fermentation, no fining or filtration, and a range threaded through with saline mineral character and patient élevage in cement and oak.

The producer

Valle delle Lepri farms 10 hectares of vines on a hillside in the Colli di Rimini DOC, the Adriatic-facing zone at the southern edge of Emilia-Romagna. The estate has been organic since 1992, before that was a common claim in this part of Italy, and its cellar approach has not shifted: spontaneous fermentation, no fining, no filtration, modest sulphite additions across all three wines. Grandson Luca Cecchini serves as enologist and removed commercial yeasts entirely around 2019, extending a philosophy his grandfather Battista began when he reclaimed the then-abandoned hillside in the 1950s.

The range is three reds. Fidelio is Sangiovese with 15 to 20 days of skin maceration, six months in 500-litre French oak barrels, and six months in vitrified cement: cherry, plum, graphite, and moss on the nose, acidity-led on the palate, finishing on cherry and liquorice with evolved tannins. Batèst is Sangiovese Superiore, made only in the best vintages, with 40 days of maceration and 18 months in cement: fuller body, stewed red fruit, sweet spices, sandalwood, pepper, and velvety tannins. Ira is Cabernet Sauvignon under the Colli di Rimini DOC, available as a standard release and a Riserva aged 18 months in tonneau and 12 months in bottle, produced only in selected years.

Known for

Sangiovese (Fidelio, Batèst), Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva (Ira)

Notable facts

The story

The Hares That Named the Estate

When Silvano Cecchini began converting the family vineyard to organic farming in the 1980s, he also started managing sections of the hillside for wild hare conservation. The hares were already on the land his father Battista had reclaimed from abandonment in the 1950s, but Silvano made a deliberate choice: he fenced ground and worked to support the hare population alongside the vines, treating both as part of the same property. When it came time to name the estate and its labels, he did not choose the family name or a vineyard parcel. He chose the hares. Valle delle Lepri, the Valley of the Hares, appears on every bottle the estate produces today. The conservation area and the vineyard grew up together on the same hillside.

The Hares That Named the Estate

When Silvano Cecchini began converting the family vineyard to organic farming in the 1980s, he also started managing sections of the hillside for wild hare conservation. The hares were already on the land his father Battista had reclaimed from abandonment in the 1950s, but Silvano made a deliberate choice: he fenced ground and worked to support the hare population alongside the vines, treating both as part of the same property. When it came time to name the estate and its labels, he did not choose the family name or a vineyard parcel. He chose the hares. Valle delle Lepri, the Valley of the Hares, appears on every bottle the estate produces today. The conservation area and the vineyard grew up together on the same hillside.

From the atlas

Valle delle Lepri

At A Glance

The Producer

Valle delle Lepri farms a hillside in the Colli di Rimini DOC, in the southern edge of Emilia-Romagna south of Rimini, growing Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon on 10 hectares of organic vines. The estate is built around a commitment that pre-dates most contemporary natural wine conversation: organic certification since 1992, spontaneous fermentation, no fining, no filtration, modest sulphite additions. The range comprises three red wines with a saline mineral thread through dark fruit and spice.

Grandson Luca Cecchini works as enologist. He removed commercial yeasts entirely around 2019, extending a low-intervention approach that his father Silvano had begun three decades earlier.

Place

The Colli di Rimini DOC sits at the Adriatic edge of the Apennine foothills, a distinct zone from the Romagna Sangiovese DOC heartland that runs further north and west through Forlì and Faenza. The hills here face east toward the sea, with clay-rich soils on the slopes and cooling maritime air off the Adriatic moderating the warmth of the Emilian summer. For Sangiovese, grown here well inland from the coast on hillside ground rather than the flatlands of the Po Valley, this translates into riper fruit than northern Romagna but with the acid line and saline mineral quality that distinguishes the Rimini hills from the plain.

Cabernet Sauvignon is also authorised in the Colli di Rimini DOC. On this hillside it produces a wine that adds bell pepper, sage, and earthy notes to concentrated dark fruit, a profile more Bordeaux-adjacent than the warm, jammy Cabernet of many Italian DOC zones.

Soil And Site

The 10-hectare vineyard sits on hillside land above the valley floor in the hinterland south of Rimini. The soils are clay-dominant, supporting the full-bodied weight and velvety tannin character that appears across the range. An additional hectare of olive groves occupies the same 11-hectare property. Silvano Cecchini fenced sections of the hillside for wild hare conservation alongside the vineyard, a commitment that runs through the estate from its name to the label.

Story

Battista Cecchini took on an abandoned hillside property in the 1950s and began farming it. His son Silvano shifted the estate from bulk supply toward estate-bottled wine in the 1980s, simultaneously converting the vineyard to organic farming and gaining certification in 1992. The hares on the property, already present on the hillside land Battista had reclaimed, became a conservation project under Silvano: he fenced ground and managed hare population recovery alongside the vines, then named the estate after them. Valle delle Lepri, the Valley of the Hares, carries that decision into every label.

Luca Cecchini, Silvano's grandson, took on the enology role and pushed the low-intervention philosophy further. By around 2019 he had removed commercial yeasts from the cellar entirely, relying on indigenous fermentation across all three wines. Each generation added a layer to the same hillside: reclamation, organic conversion, wild fermentation.

Vineyards And Cellar

All three wines begin with spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel. After that, the cellar routes diverge by maceration length and vessel.

Fidelio, the entry Sangiovese, macerates 15 to 20 days on skins. It then spends six months in 500-litre French oak barrels and six more months in vitrified cement before bottling. The oak contact at this size adds texture without imposing vanilla or toast on the fruit; the cement finishing period preserves freshness and the saline mineral quality of the grape.

Batèst, the top Sangiovese, doubles the maceration to 40 days. The extended skin contact builds extraction and tannin density, then the wine goes into natural cement for 12 months, followed by six more months in vitrified cement. No oak touches this wine. The longer maceration and cement-only ageing produce the fuller body and velvety but decided tannins in the bottle.

Ira Cabernet Sauvignon, in its standard release, macerates 30 days on skins. The Riserva, produced only in the best vintages with meticulous bunch selection, takes the same 30-day maceration then ages 18 months in tonneau and 12 months in bottle. That 30-month élevage and bottle rest, restricted to selected years, separates the Riserva from any routine annual release.

Nothing in the cellar is fined or filtered. Sulphite additions are modest across all wines.

Wines

The range is three red wines arranged by grape, maceration intensity, and cellar route.

Fidelio is the estate's Sangiovese in its accessible form: 15 to 20 days of maceration, half a year in 500-litre French oak, half a year in vitrified cement. It opens with cherry and plum, then moves into graphite, moss, and tea on the nose. The palate is led by acidity, with cherry and liquorice on a long finish and tannins that have evolved to introduce rather than block the fruit.

Batèst is Sangiovese Superiore, made only in the best vintages. The 40-day maceration and 18 months in cement build a fuller body: stewed red fruit, sweet spices, sandalwood, pepper, and juniper on the nose, then a warm, voluminous palate with velvety but decided tannins and a concentrated, well-balanced finish.

Ira is Cabernet Sauvignon under the Colli di Rimini DOC. The standard release has dark ruby colour, a clean nose of blueberries, eucalyptus, espresso, and stewed prunes, then a broad, savory palate with fine-grained tannins, finishing on blueberries, rhubarb, and fresh mint. The Ira Riserva, available only in selected vintages, carries 18 months of tonneau ageing and 12 months in bottle on top of the same 30-day maceration. The nose adds bell pepper, sage, earth, coffee, and chocolate; the palate is warm, voluminous, with very fine tannins that open through spice and underbrush, with long aging potential.

In The Glass

Across the three wines the house signature is consistent: a saline mineral thread runs under the dark fruit, and the tannins are firm but fine-grained rather than coarse or drying. In Fidelio, the 500-litre oak adds a whisper of texture without masking the Sangiovese cherry and mineral character; the acid line is the dominant structural note, carrying the finish long and clean. In Batèst, the extra maceration shifts the centre of gravity toward body and spice, with stewed fruit and sandalwood ahead of the mineral notes, but the velvety tannins and warm mouth-feel remain controlled rather than heavy. Ira in its standard form is the most aromatic wine of the three, the Cabernet showing blueberries and eucalyptus with rhubarb and fresh mint on the finish. The Riserva deepens the same profile into concentration, adding coffee, chocolate, and earthy underbrush while the tannins open slowly through spice. All four wines are unfined and unfiltered; the texture in the glass reflects that, with a slight weight that integrates with the fruit rather than obscuring it.

A Bottle To Understand It

Fidelio is the first bottle. It is Sangiovese from this hillside in its most legible form: spontaneous fermentation, 15 to 20 days of skin contact, six months in 500-litre French oak, six months in vitrified cement, then bottled without fining or filtration. On the nose it gives cherry and plum with graphite and moss underneath. The palate is acidity-led, with the cherry continuing through to a finish that picks up liquorice, and tannins that are evolved and fine rather than grippy. It is not a simple wine, but it is the clearest version of what this cellar does: indigenous fermentation, minimal intervention, a mineral thread that runs from the hillside clay through the cement into the glass.

Anecdote

When Silvano Cecchini began converting the family vineyard to organic farming in the 1980s, he also started managing sections of the hillside for wild hare conservation. The hares were already on the land his father Battista had reclaimed from abandonment in the 1950s, but Silvano made a deliberate choice: he fenced ground and worked to support the hare population alongside the vines, treating both as part of the same property. When it came time to name the estate and its labels, he did not choose the family name or a vineyard parcel. He chose the hares. Valle delle Lepri, the Valley of the Hares, appears on every bottle the estate produces today. The conservation area and the vineyard grew up together on the same hillside.

Final Word

Valle delle Lepri makes a short, coherent range from a hillside that most Italian wine maps pass over. The Colli di Rimini is not Classico Chianti or Romagna Sangiovese country, but this estate has farmed it organically since before that was a selling point, with a cellar discipline that connects maceration length and vessel choice directly to what ends up in the glass. Three generations, one valley, three wines, a mineral thread that runs through all of them.

Sources

Open Valle delle Lepri in the interactive map →