Tucked away in an area of Tuscany near Cortona and Lago di Trasimeno is Colle Santa Mustiola. Here, Fabbio Cenni farms 5ha with 28 clones of Sangiovese, including four own-rooted, pre-phylloxera clones. He makes three wines: Sangiovese Rosato “Kernos”, Vigna Flavia, and his top wine, Poggio ai Chiara, which contains all 28 clones of Sangiovese. All of the wines were great, but tasting 2005-2008 Poggio al Chiara was a unique Sangiovese experience. These wines evolved constantly in the glass for the 45+ minutes we were tasting them. It is amazing to me that, until now, these wines have never been imported anywhere in the US except Manhattan. The winery and cellar are housed in a 2500 year old cave of Etruscan origin and Fabbi has incorporated elements of Green Architecture into a recent addition to the end of the cave to accommodate more winery space, all of which can be seen in the photos on our site. In addition to the great wines, Fabbio is a passionate, deeply intelligent, gentle person whose pleasure in seeing someone enjoy his wines is very evident. Everything is done by hand and the wines are held at the winery until they are ready for release, which is often many years.
