The story of this SuperTuscan began when its first vintage was entirely
wiped out by wild boars – hence the name Cignale, which is Tuscan dialect for
wild boar. Neil and Maria Empson, together with friends Alessandro Francois of
Castello di Querceto and oenologist Franco Bernabei, planted the vines (mostly
Cabernet with a little Merlot) in 1981 on three locations near Greve. Together,
the sites covered 3 hectares of schist, clay, lime and sand at 425-500 meters
above sea level. The soil here was abundant in nitrogen, a key element to the
wines structure, and the yield is an uneconomic 0.4 tonne per hectare. Recently,
an additional 1.5 hectares have been purchased so there will be more wild boars
to come.