While attending the Anteprima in Montepulciano last month, I took the opportunity to visit Podere Le Bèrne to see their vineyards and winemaking operations and to share a wonderful lunch of homemade pappardelle made by the family’s grandmother (nonna). Her grandson, Federico Fastelli, who studied winemaking in Florence and has done harvests in Burgundy and New Zealand, showed me the vineyards in grey, drizzly weather, and her son, winemaker Andrea Natalini, who I first met at last year’s anteprima, showed me the current wines, including the winery’s first “pieve” bottling, the superb 2021 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Alto from the Cervognano pieve. Pieve is Montepulciano’s new wine classification for the region’s top wines.
While Le Bèrne’s winemaking is modern, the family’s history is typical for the region. Their 21-hectare farm was share-cropped as part of a larger estate until 1967 when the family purchased it, and Andrea’s father Giuliano and grandfather planted the first vineyard adjacent to their home. Andrea began making wine in 1990 but sold it in bulk to larger wineries until 1997 when the Le Bèrne label was born. Today, the Natalini family has a 14-hectare vineyard and produce about 70 thousand bottles. Paolo Vagaggini is the consulting enologist.
Cervognano Alto Vineyard
Le Berne Vineyard Soils
Le Bèrne has five vineyards, all within the Cervognano pieve (see map below). The vineyards vary in terms of soils and exposures. Located at 400m elevation, Cervognano Alto, the source of fruit for the pieve wine, has a northwest exposure and calcareous soils, while the Casa vineyard, the source of fruit for the Riserva, has 56-year-old vines planted in heavier clay soils with a southern exposure at 350m elevation. These diverse terroirs produce grapes that require different treatment in the cellar and, of course, wines of different characteristics. Andrea, who was President of the Consorzio del Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from 2013-2019, uses organic methods in the vineyard, makes the wines using native yeast, and matures the wines in a combination of 25 hl Slavonian oak botti and small French oak barriques.
Several US importers including Sienna.
The Lunch
Nonna shown here with Federico, makes fresh pappardelle and serves it with a light Bolognese sauce followed by beefsteak grilled over a wood fire and cantucci served with Vin Santo.
The Wines
Le Bèrne 2023 Rosso di Montepulciano ($17) 91 A very fresh, bright wine revealing red cherry and berry fruit. The palate is clean and pure with vibrant acidity, fine tannins, and a hint of savory herbs. The Rosso is a 100% Sangiovese blend of young vineyards in the bottom of the valley with higher yields and larger grapes. Fermented in stainless steel with 15 days skin contact and matured 4 months in large botti. An excellent bistro wine and outstanding value.
Le Bèrne 2022 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 92 Darker and riper in character than the outstanding 2021 vintage of this wine. Dark cherry and ripe raspberry with a hint of sage show on the nose and palate. Suave on the attack with good depth of flavor and breadth in the mouth. 2022 was a warm vintage with an early, short harvest (Sept 10-25) and the 15% alcohol is higher than normal. A vineyard blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Colorino sourced from 30-60 year old vines towards the top of the vineyard; matured 2 years in 80% 25 hl Slavonian botti and 20% French oak barriques. A very good wine but not quite up to the level of the 2021, which is likely still on wine store shelves. We also retasted the 2021, which is even better than what I remember from the tasting at the 2024 Anteprima. Andrea also pulled out a 2012 Vino Nobile, which was silky and layered with notes of dried fruit, mushroom and soil.
Giuliano & the Author
Le Bèrne 2021 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva ($40) 94 Dark ruby. Sourced from the 56-year-old, south facing Casa Vineyard with clay soils, this is a more traditional take on Vino Nobile with darker fruit, thickly textured and firm tannins. But delicious with deep, layered flavors, savory notes, and a very long finish. Matured 30 months in 50/50 Slavonian botti and French barriques, 15% new. A wine to put in the cellar for a couple of years. 93 on 2020: Saturated ruby with a brick red rim. Reveals classic aromas of dark red berries, plum, and a hint of potpourri. The palate shows spice-tinged black currant flavors that deepen through the mid-palate. Broad, silky mouth feel with supple tannins and a long, spicy finish. Predominantly Sangiovese with some Colorino from an old vineyard of calcareous clay soils at 350m elevation with a southern exposure. Matured 30 months in 60% French barrique and 40% Slavonian 25 hl botti. Good now but even better with a couple of years in the cellar.
Le Bèrne 2021 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Alto Pieve Cervognano ($70) 95 Opens with notes of eucalyptus oil, herbs, and red fruit. A modern-styled Vino Nobile, the mouthfeel is refined and full with perfect balance. Broad and layered palate revealing an inner mouth perfume of optimally ripe red fruit. 100% Sangiovese sourced from a northwest facing, single vineyard with the highest acidity and lowest pH of the estate. This site used to have difficulty ripening. Made the same way as the Riserva and matured 2 years in 10hl barrels. What an excellent premiere of this pieve wine! 2700 btl. N exposure. 400m ht. Limestone soils. 24m in 10hl botti. Starated making this inwe in 2019. Not of eucalpytus oil on nose, darker fruit. Elegant palate, friend. Refined. Full in mouth w perfect balance. Broad and layered. Darker fruit. Quite different from the other sangioveses. 45 days skin contact More modern style. 100% Sangiovese sourced from a northwest facing, single vineyard with the highest acidity and lowest pH of the estate. This site used to have difficulty ripening. Made the same way as the Riserva and matured 2 years in 10hl barrels. 2020 92 ptsMedium ruby with a red brick colored edge. Opens with a perfumed bouquet of red berries, herbs, and a hint of orange minerals. The 2020 vintage shows a medium weight palate, silky in texture with a sense of elegance. 100% Sangiovese sourced from a northwest facing, single vineyard with the highest acidity and lowest pH (3.5) of the estate. This site used to have difficulty ripening. Made the same way as the Riserva and matured 2 years in 10hl barrels.
Le Bèrne 2009 Occhio di Pernice Ada Vin Santo di Montepulciano 94 Eye of the partridge (Occhio di Pernico) color. A delightful Vin Santo that’s not overly sweet although the flavors tend toward dulce de leche, toffee and toasted almond with a hint of orange marmalade. A blend of 80% Grechetto Bianco and 20% Malvasia harvested mid-September and dried on wicker mats until January, then fermented with a madre yeast and aged for 12 years in oak casks in an attic. Traditionally consumed at the end of the meal with Tuscan Cantucci.
Le Bèrne Vineyards
