US EXCLUSIVE. This is an insane value for what you get in the glass. Super rich, powerful and polished. At 16 years old, it's drinking very close to its peak. Sumptual, dense and fully integrated with a real french polish to it. Stunning.

Fattoria Cerbaia sits along Strada Cerbaia, a quiet country lane in the Chianti Classico hills between Florence and Siena, near Barberino Tavarnelle. It is a classic Tuscan agricultural estate: vineyards and olive groves rolling over the landscape, with the towers of San Gimignano visible in the distance. From its 12.5 hectares of vines, Cerbaia makes just three principal reds—Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Riserva, and Luigi Maria—each giving a different lens on the estate. The first two speak the native language of Sangiovese; Luigi Maria is the estate’s more cosmopolitan voice, a Toscana IGT that steps outside the Chianti Classico rulebook to work with Bordeaux’s great red varieties.

The 2010 Luigi Maria brings together Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, with the final proportions determined by what ripens best in a given vintage. It is essentially a Super Tuscan in spirit, but with a much more intimate scale and far less fanfare than the category’s marquee names. Barrique-aged and bottled at a muscular 15% alcohol, it now has the benefit that many young Tuscan IGTs lack: time. More than a decade and a half after harvest, the initial dark-plum and cassis generosity has begun to cede ground to cedar, cigar box, balsamic herbs, cocoa, leather, and the savory, autumnal complexity that makes mature Italian reds such rewarding dinner-table wines.

Why You'll Love It

• It is a fully mature Tuscan Bordeaux blend with real secondary complexity already in the bottle—cedar, tobacco, dried black fruit, cocoa, and savory Tuscan herbs.

• Cerbaia is a small Chianti Classico estate, making this a discovery-bottle alternative to more famous and substantially pricier Super Tuscan labels.

• The 2010 vintage offers richness and structure, while age has softened the wine’s tannins into a more supple, velvety texture.

How To Serve It

• Stand the bottle upright for a day before opening if possible, then decant carefully to leave any sediment behind.

• Start with 30–45 minutes in a decanter; give it up to an hour or more only if it seems closed or particularly youthful on opening.

• Serve at 61–65°F in a large Bordeaux stem alongside grilled steak, lamb, braised beef, wild game, porcini, truffles, or aged Pecorino.