Biography
Roberto Cipresso was born in Bassano del Grappa, Vicenza in 1963 and began his career in Montalcino, Tuscany where he settled and worked for several important winemakers including Case Basse of Poggio Antico. In 1987, he became Executive Director at Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona where he achieved his first personal successes with the Brunello Riserva 1988 and the Brunello Vigna Pianrosso 1990. These wines captured the attention of the international press and important fine wine auctions in London, Chicago, and New York. Concurrently, he began working with some of the most important winemakers in Tuscany, Marche, Veneto, Puglia, and Friuli. In 1992, he started Fattoria La Fiorita, a small winemaking company based in Montalcino aimed at producing high-quality Brunello in limited amounts. Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence bought the company's entire first vintage in 1993 and its wines have since been auctioned at Christie's in New York.
In 1995, he founded the forward looking project Winecircus, which is dedicated to innovative experimentation and research. Robert started the viticulture consultancy firm Winemaking in 1999, expanded his activities internationally, and began new projects with Renzo Rosso's Diesel Farm in Vicenza and the Bodega Achaval Ferrer in Mendoza, Argentina. In 2000, he created a special cuvée for the Pope's jubilee. In 2001, the Italian Sommelier Association organised an event at the Cavalieri Hilton in Rome dedicated entirely to his wines. During the same period, he presented Montalcino wines crafted under his guidance at a charity dinner for families of the victims of the Twin Towers held at the Fourseasons, New York. He was also nominated best winemaker in Italy together with Renzo Cotarella (winner) and Donato Lanati.
In 2002, he began to increase his participation at winemaking meetings, conferences, and events in Italy and abroad, giving talks in Valencia, New York, and Dusseldorf. In 2003, he participated with representatives of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and national universities in a roundtable sponsored by the Delegazione Romagna dell'Associazione Le Donne del Vino on the anniversary of their 10th annual "L'ospitalità a Tavola" gathering. In 2004, he was once again at the Four Seasons in New York where he was honoured during an evening dedicated to winemakers from Montalcino. The same year he collaborated with the Rai Radio 2 programme, "Decanter". In 2004 and 2005, he participated in the "Poets, Warriors, and Italian Wines" event at the Italian Cultural Institutes in Brussels and Berlin.
He published his first book "Il Romanzo del Vino" in 2006 for which he won the Veronelli Prize. In 2007, he was nominated best journalist and writer by the Wine Oscars and won the Best Italian Winemaker Award. The same year, he received special recognition by the "Città del Vino" association for his work to protect, enhance, and promote winemaking regions. The magazine "Men's Health" also named him a man of the year in 2007 within its "Food" category. In 2008, he published his second book "Vinosofia".
He was named Ambassador of the Città del Vino in 2009 and obtained one of his most important personal achievements receiving the award of "L'Enologo Italiano nel Mondo" (Italian Winemaker in the World) at the Merano Wine Festival. Also in 2009, "Wine and Spirits" magazine named Bodega Achaval Ferrer in Argentina, with whom he collaborates, Winery of the Year in a competition involving 9000 wines. In September 2009, his third book "Vineide" also came out..
In 2010, he was elected an academic correspondent of the Accademia Nazionale di Agricoltura di Bologna. He also met with the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, and was asked by the Città del Vino to develop a special wine for the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification. In 2011, he lectured in the research and development module of the inter-university (Udine, Padua, Verona, Trent) master's course in viticulture, oenology, and wine markets, which is co-ordinated by Prof. Zironi from the Università di Udine. He also participated with Toni Capuozzo and Michele Serra in the roundtable "Il vino e" in Mazzorbo, Venice. He joined Bruno Gambacorta, Antonio Paolini, and Giancarlo Gariglio in the roundtable "Il vino del futuro: cosa ci sarà in bottiglia nel 2020" (Wine of the Future: What will be in the bottle in 2020?) at the 2011 Porto Cervo Wine Festival.