Bassano del Grappa is my hometown, and also marks the start of my career. After attaining my degree in Agriculture at the University of Padua, I attended a Masters course run by Attilio Scienza in San Michele dell’Adige (TN), which thanks to one of the modules gave me the opportunity to experience the diversity of wine production in many areas in Italy, one of them being Montalcino.
Storyline
1987
Roberto Cipresso moves from Bassano del Grappa to Montalcino, where he starts his winemaking career, collaborating with some of the most prestigious wineries, such as ‘Case Basse’ and ‘Poggio Antico’
1988
He contributes to the development and market consolidation of the famous winery ‘Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona’.
1995
Together with two friends from Bassano del Grappa, Miki Biasion and Tiziano Siviero, he establishes ‘La Fiorita’. He also produces the first bottle of ‘La quadrature del Cerchio’
1998
The year of birth of ‘Poggio al Sole’, a center for agritourism set in a converted farmhouse, nestled in the heart of Montalcino, where the making of a good wine is shown to be an art. Near the farmhouse is a small ‘Cru’ of ‘Brunello di Montalcino’ established in a vineyard of galestro soil, a soil prized and cherished in the vineyards of Tuscany.
1999
The year of his first trip to Argentina, where the ambitious ‘Achaval Ferrer’ project was taking place. ‘Winemaking’ founded in Italy employing a company of selected professional oenological and agronomic consultants.
2000
For the Jubilee of the year 2000, Roberto Cipresso creates a special Cuvée for the Pope John Paul II.
2001
‘Winemaking’ grows and his concept of ‘Winecircus’ evolves. This is a special winery, a laboratory of sorts, where it is possible to experiment together with the most important universities, the goals of ‘Winecircus’ being research and development.
2004
He carries out a second project in ‘Matervini’,the result of his successful collaboration with Santiago Achaval. As a result of this project ‘Matervini’ is recognised throughout the world.
2006
★ He is declared best Italian oenologist and publishes his first book ‘Il Romanzo del vino’ (‘The Book of Wine’) in collaboration with Giovanni Negri and Stefano Milioni.
2008
★ ‘Men’s Health’ magazine declares him ‘Man of the year’ in their food category. He also publishes his second book ‘Vinosofia’.
2009
★ ‘Wine & Spirits’ magazine declares ‘Bodega Achaval-Ferrer’ to be the best winery in the world. He publishes his third book ‘Vineide’.
2010
★ Roberto Cipresso meets Giorgio Napolitano, the President of Republic, who commissions him to realise a project called ‘Città del vino’ (‘The City of wine’), which describes the production of a special wine created to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy.
2013
★ ‘Wine & Spirits’ magazine declares the wine ‘Achaval Ferrer Finca Altamira 2010’ to be the best Malbec in the world. Roberto Cipresso harvests his Brunello di Montalcino for the first time.
2014
★ He is nominated a member of the ‘Scientific Committee’ of the Italian Institution of ‘Vini-Enoteca Italiana’.
2015
★ Thanks to his best ten wines, Roberto Cipresso is chosen as winemaker for the ‘Cult Oenologist’, a part of the ‘Meran Wine Festival’.
2016
Together with his brother Gianfranco, Roberto creates ‘Cipresso 43’, a project that produces native grapes that are cultivated along the 43rd North Parallel. He publishes his book ‘La vita è meravigliosa se bevi buon vino’ (‘Life is wonderful, if you drink good wine’), an anthology based on his two previous books, ‘Il Romanzo del vino’ (‘The Book of the Wine’) and ‘Vinosofia’.
2017
Roberto produces wines especially for an exclusive ‘Charity Dinner’ held on Ellis Island in New York, the bottles being signed by the chef Massimo Bottura, the wine being presented to the prestigious guests, including the actor Chazz Palminteri.
2018
During a private meeting on the 5th September, he gives Pope Francis, a bottle of wine Roberto has named ‘Abbraccio’ or ‘Hug’, which he has created for the pope in collaboration with the ‘Città del Vino’ (‘The City of wine’). He also publishes his fourth book ‘ Vino. Il romanzo segreto’ (‘Wine. The Secret Book ’) which he has written in collaboration with Alessandro Zaltron.
2019
The wines of Roberto Cipresso are served at an exclusive event ‘Once Upon a Kitchen in Miami’ which has been organized by the ‘GR8 Group’, an international tour operator that organises luxury travels and events.
Now
That’s how I started my adventure in Tuscany which was only supposed to last a couple of months, though, as is sometimes the way with these things, is still going on after more than thirty years ! In the beginning, I had the opportunity to work with several wineries ranging from ‘Soldera’,‘Case Basse’ and ‘Poggio Antico’ to ‘Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona’, and from 1988 to 1996 I was responsible for attaining many of their successful goals in the global markets.
In 1995 together with Miki Biasion and Tiziano Siverio, two friends from Bassano del Grappa, I realized my project of ‘La Fiorita’. Our estate has grown from an area of 0,5 hectares to an area of 9 hectares in a mere ten years. Our company has become more and more important and at that point in 2011 we had been collaborating with our two esteemed partners for more than five years.
In 2016 I decided to leave the company in order to dedicate my attention to a new and personal project regarding‘Brunello di Montalcino’. I created my own personal consisting of a cru of 1998 Sangiovese and a converted farmhouse I named ‘Poggio al Sole’.
In subsequent years I worked as a consultant for both national and international companies, the former located in twenty regions in Italy, the latter in Croatia, Brazil, Spain (Mallorca, Ribera del Duero, Jumilla), Romania, America (CA), Turkey, Slovakia, Chile, and above all else in Argentina (Mendoza and Cafajate).
In 1999 in collaboration with my close friend and business partner, Santiago Achaval, I achieved the prestigious project ‘Matervini’ in Argentina. I also collaborated with Galvao Bueno on his ‘Bellavista Estate’ in Bagè, Brazil.
In 1999 I founded ‘Winemaking’, a company comprising of six professionals consultants, who helped many national and international enterprises collect important information for the education project ‘La scuola della vite e del vino’ (‘The School of Grape and Wine’).
In 2001 I founded ‘Winecircus’, a winery and laboratory for research and development. We worked hard and were very successful being able to transform the old headquarters, which had initially been a garage and then olive oil press and former factory into a new and fascinating center of operations. As has often happened in my career, I rebuilt what I had found giving it a new dimension . Thanks to this opportunity I now have at my disposal grapes of a particular quality as well as an experimental winery.
‘Winecircus’ is able to makes research of a singular quality within the oenological field, in collaboration with the Universities of Padua, Turin, Venice, Pisa, Udine and Palermo.
In 2015 this research culminated in the formulation of the brand ‘Cipresso 43’.
Its aim is to enhance native grapes which lie on the 43rd North Parallel (which runs across three of the most important oenological regions in Italy, such as Marche, Umbria and Tuscany), thanks to the concept of the ‘widespwread terroir’ . This managerial and administrative approach developed in conjunction with my brother Gianfranco was a great idea, I had been thinking about it since 1995 and it is still in progress, that is in ‘La Quadratura del Cerchio’ (‘The Squaring of the circle’) .