40 anni di Cabreo Il Borgo

The retrospective connects the Cabreo name with historic property inventories containing detailed descriptions and hand-drawn plans. The Folonari family adopted it as a reference to patrimony, while Il Borgo honours Montefioralle, the village overlooking the estate vineyards and Greve in Chianti.

At the end of the 1970s, Ambrogio Folonari travelled through the Côte d’Or and visited the viticultural institute at Beaune. He acquired grafting material for Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. After returning to Greve, he grafted the material onto Sangiovese vineyards at a small Panzano property acquired for the project. A technician from California directed a grafting method intended to permit production the following year.

The resulting Cabreo Il Borgo cuvée initially combined 70% Sangiovese with 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Its first harvest was 1982 and commercial release followed in 1985. During the 1980s and 1990s, precision vinification and ageing increasingly pursued structure, concentration and elegance. Between 2015 and 2020, techniques were updated with greater attention to aromatic definition and the balance of fruit and oak, while parallel projects expanded the brand.

The 2022 vintage was presented as the 40th harvest and received a commemorative label. The article also reviewed the two estate sectors: 60 hectares at Zano, including 45 hectares of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and 15 hectares at Panzano planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Nero. Zano has calcareous sandstone and marl, while white clay and galestro predominate at Panzano.