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Cigliano di Sopra

2023 Cigliano di Sopra, Chianti Classico, Vigneto Branca Riserva

Italy Sangiovese Tuscany Chianti Classico 750ML
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2023 Cigliano di Sopra, Chianti Classico, Vigneto Branca Riserva
Cigliano di Sopra

2023 Cigliano di Sopra, Chianti Classico, Vigneto Branca Riserva

Italy Sangiovese Tuscany Chianti Classico 750ML
/

THE VINEYARD Branca, within UGA San Casciano in Val di Pesa, 0.8 hectares at 260m altitude. Approximately 4200 vines per hectare.

ASSEMBLAGE 95% Sangiovese, 5% Canaiolo

VINE AGE Planted in 1972

SOIL Predominantly sandy with percentages of silt and clay, rich in limestone and characterized by the presence of ancient river pebbles and deposits (river pebble) dating back to approximately 7 million years ago.

FERMENTATION Whole-cluster fermentation occurred in stainless steel tanks, with twice-daily pump-overs for the early part of the process. Maceration extended 21 days before pressing, and transferring to Austrian oak foudres with a small portion of press wine.

AGING Aged 18 months within Austrian oak foudres, only racked to encourage continued contact with lees. Bottling occurs directly from foudre, and the wines will remain in bottle at the estate for an additional year prior to release.

BOTTLES PRODUCED 1870 bottles, 50 magnums, 6 double magnums.

WINEMAKER'S VINTAGE NOTES "After a mild and rainy winter that allowed the soils to accumulate a good water reserve, in the 2023 vintage, bud break occurred between late March and early April with temperatures within the average range. Subsequently, spring saw temperatures slightly above average and aboundant precipitation, that have kept vinegrowers really busy fighting again mildew. Flowering happened in the first two weeks of June. From July onwards, there was a gradual increase in temperatures, leading to a dry summer. Veraison began in August and concluded in early September. Gentle rains in the last week of August helped the plants to continue grape maturation in good health. The harvest began on September 4 and concluded on October 10th. We lost around 30% of the potential production due to the mildew in spring, but the quality of this vintage is to be considered exceptional."

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In the young but talented hands of Maddalena Fucile and Matteo Vaccari, Cigliano di Sopra has garnered great acclaim from drinkers and critics alike. In restoring the ancient farm of Maddalena's family, the two have been able to showcase the unique terroir of the Cigliano area of Chianti Classico, an area that until now had been left largely unknown. No longer.

Cigliano di Sopra

In the northernmost part of the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany on the hill of Cigliano, boarded in by forest, sits the six hundred-year-old farm that has been transformed into one of the most exciting “young” estates of Tuscany. Young in that the name is new to you and me, and young in the sense that Maddelena - the newest generation of her family to participate in the viticulture here - and Matteo, her partner, are, well, young. “We are natural assistants,” Maddalena offers, referring to the fact that this plot of land, long overlooked by the world, has something special it wants to offer us, in turn.

In the 1400s, this farm was built, and in the following century Maddalena’s family took ownership. It wasn’t, per se, a working winery, as when she was young the family lived in Florence and the farm was overseen by cousins and other relatives. “My parents were lawyers,” she admitted, and her siblings have taken other more “noble” jobs, such as a doctor. In 2013, she spent a large part of the year in Cigliano, and felt a bond forming with the land. After spending a summer abroad in Santa Barbara, she fell in love with the area, and the following year sent letters to Raj Parr, trying to land a job at Domaine de la Cote.

As many of us at Thatcher’s have discovered, there are so many parts dotting the landscape of California that resemble parts of Europe’s most beautiful vistas. So many Tuscans landed here for that very reason, and in Santa Barbara the wine culture is vast and lively. Spending time with Raj and winemaker Sashi Moorman, Maddalena and Matteo - whom she had met while in university - returned from the experience charged with energy. “We started to dream up plans for the farm,” Maddalena told us, and in 2016 they made the first thousand bottles of Chianti Classico.

As the estate fruit was largely sold off in bulk, the 35 hectare property on the hill of Cigliano only had three hectares with which to make fruit at first. A full eight are back in their grasp now as of 2020, having been treated fully organically since 2016. The opportunity to make wines bearing the famous Chianti Classico name was an attractive proposition, and the duo will aim to continue this as long as the appellation’s tasting panel allows at least one of their wines to carry the name each vintage. “The Judges can be very hard,” Matteo admits, “And sometimes, the wines don’t pass what they think of as ‘Chianti’. In that case, we make them into IGT.”

Having now convinced her family of her chosen career, Maddalena, along with Matteo, are quite aware of the history of Chianti, and also what potential lies in this special portion of the appellation. “The 1960s and 70s bottles that we had in the cellar [from the vineyard] were made very simple, and were so beautiful,” she recalls admiringly. “We can create something here from almost zero.” Chiming in, Matteo adds that their passion for this came from drinking good wines, and taking the years during university and in stages at la Cote and later at Evening Land to ponder the styles they wanted to make. Ultimately, he said, “If you do not love what you put in the bottle, you can not do this.”

VITICULTURE & VINIFICATION

The forest surrounding the estate on the hill of Cigliano provides a natural cooling system at night. The geology of the land is quite different from other Chianti Classico houses, in that there is a duality formed while crossing the river valley, almost two distinct faces of the appellation. The west side contains more river stones and sand, and is quite fertile. “Branca” is “More Mediterranean, a very solar wine - it has similar soils to Chateauneuf-du-Pape,” Matteo explains. “Cigliano,” on the east side, is more of a limestone, yellow-ish, rocky clay. “This is more quiet, minerally,” he adds. Cigliano contains three big terraces, with biodiversity encouraged, varied trees intermingling with the vines. The vineyards are trained in a high gobelet style, with 2-3 spurs per shoot to maximize ripeness and balanced extraction.

In the cellar, the work is done as gently as possible. The aim is not extraction, but elegance and perfume. Elevage is performed in 15-hectoliter Stockinger casks, topping up to prevent early oxidation. In addition to the Sangiovese, they make about one thousand bottles of Trebbiano, which they love for its “close relationship to Aligote.”

Patience is often key for Matteo and Maddalena - rushing a wine out of cask could strip away the slow-developing finer characteristics of the vineyard. “The 2025 vintage has very good acidity, and while aging on the lees, we’ve seen it develop slowly. Bottling it now would be like cutting it in half,” Matteo claims.

See More at Thatcher's Imports

Meet the Producer

Cigliano di Sopra

In the young but talented hands of Maddalena Fucile and Matteo Vaccari, Cigliano di Sopra has garnered great acclaim from drinkers and critics alike. In restoring the ancient farm of Maddalena's family, the two have been able to showcase the unique terroir of the Cigliano area of Chianti Classico, an area that until now had been left largely unknown. No longer.

In the northernmost part of the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany on the hill of Cigliano, boarded in by forest, sits the six hundred-year-old farm that has been transformed into one of the most exciting “young” estates of Tuscany. Young in that the name is new to you and me, and young in the sense that Maddelena - the newest generation of her family to participate in the viticulture here - and Matteo, her partner, are, well, young. “We are natural assistants,” Maddalena offers, referring to the fact that this plot of land, long overlooked by the world, has something special it wants to offer us, in turn.

In the 1400s, this farm was built, and in the following century Maddalena’s family took ownership. It wasn’t, per se, a working winery, as when she was young the family lived in Florence and the farm was overseen by cousins and other relatives. “My parents were lawyers,” she admitted, and her siblings have taken other more “noble” jobs, such as a doctor. In 2013, she spent a large part of the year in Cigliano, and felt a bond forming with the land. After spending a summer abroad in Santa Barbara, she fell in love with the area, and the following year sent letters to Raj Parr, trying to land a job at Domaine de la Cote.

As many of us at Thatcher’s have discovered, there are so many parts dotting the landscape of California that resemble parts of Europe’s most beautiful vistas. So many Tuscans landed here for that very reason, and in Santa Barbara the wine culture is vast and lively. Spending time with Raj and winemaker Sashi Moorman, Maddalena and Matteo - whom she had met while in university - returned from the experience charged with energy. “We started to dream up plans for the farm,” Maddalena told us, and in 2016 they made the first thousand bottles of Chianti Classico.

As the estate fruit was largely sold off in bulk, the 35 hectare property on the hill of Cigliano only had three hectares with which to make fruit at first. A full eight are back in their grasp now as of 2020, having been treated fully organically since 2016. The opportunity to make wines bearing the famous Chianti Classico name was an attractive proposition, and the duo will aim to continue this as long as the appellation’s tasting panel allows at least one of their wines to carry the name each vintage. “The Judges can be very hard,” Matteo admits, “And sometimes, the wines don’t pass what they think of as ‘Chianti’. In that case, we make them into IGT.”

Having now convinced her family of her chosen career, Maddalena, along with Matteo, are quite aware of the history of Chianti, and also what potential lies in this special portion of the appellation. “The 1960s and 70s bottles that we had in the cellar [from the vineyard] were made very simple, and were so beautiful,” she recalls admiringly. “We can create something here from almost zero.” Chiming in, Matteo adds that their passion for this came from drinking good wines, and taking the years during university and in stages at la Cote and later at Evening Land to ponder the styles they wanted to make. Ultimately, he said, “If you do not love what you put in the bottle, you can not do this.”

VITICULTURE & VINIFICATION

The forest surrounding the estate on the hill of Cigliano provides a natural cooling system at night. The geology of the land is quite different from other Chianti Classico houses, in that there is a duality formed while crossing the river valley, almost two distinct faces of the appellation. The west side contains more river stones and sand, and is quite fertile. “Branca” is “More Mediterranean, a very solar wine - it has similar soils to Chateauneuf-du-Pape,” Matteo explains. “Cigliano,” on the east side, is more of a limestone, yellow-ish, rocky clay. “This is more quiet, minerally,” he adds. Cigliano contains three big terraces, with biodiversity encouraged, varied trees intermingling with the vines. The vineyards are trained in a high gobelet style, with 2-3 spurs per shoot to maximize ripeness and balanced extraction.

In the cellar, the work is done as gently as possible. The aim is not extraction, but elegance and perfume. Elevage is performed in 15-hectoliter Stockinger casks, topping up to prevent early oxidation. In addition to the Sangiovese, they make about one thousand bottles of Trebbiano, which they love for its “close relationship to Aligote.”

Patience is often key for Matteo and Maddalena - rushing a wine out of cask could strip away the slow-developing finer characteristics of the vineyard. “The 2025 vintage has very good acidity, and while aging on the lees, we’ve seen it develop slowly. Bottling it now would be like cutting it in half,” Matteo claims.

See More at Thatcher's Imports
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