®
2016 VINTAGE EXCLUSIVE TO C&B IN ASIA (Exc TAIWAN, JAPAN AND KOREA)
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*Exclusive agent in Asia excluding Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
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2016 VINTAGE
To find out more about Corney & Barrow visit www.corneyandbarrow.com.hk or www.corneyandbarrow.com.sg
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
“Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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INTRODUCTION
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Now, if there is one person I’ve ever met who would have had firm, even strident, views on Covid 19 and how we could or should deal with it then Gianfranco was that man. I say this not only because he famously had an opinion on everything but because he believed deeply in science. Soldera the wine, for me, has always been about scientific interest and attention to detail producing a great work of art. A wine of soul. One place, one grape variety, one wine, many memories with each bottle. This 2016 is simply brilliant.
WILL HARGROVE Head of Fine Wine
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
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BACKGROUND TO THE ESTATE “When we arrived in Montalcino in 1972, and we saw lovely, soft, gentle hills, we fell in love with the place immediately” Gianfranco Soldera
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
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During the 1960s, Gianfranco Soldera was an insurance broker in Milan, a role he continued alongside wine until 2003. There had been a family history in wine however: his grandfather made wine near Treviso, where Gianfranco was born, and there were winemakers on his mother’s side. Having earned enough to purchase a vineyard, Gianfranco scoured Italy for land where he and his wife Graziella could produce world class wine. Importantly, it was not just wine, but world class wine which was the remit from the outset. He simply would not have settled for anything less. After looking at the Veneto, Piedmont (a region he loved) and the rest of Tuscany, they discovered an abandoned farmhouse in Montalcino. The surrounding land was
considered unsuitable for vines. Gianfranco disagreed. Absolutely convinced by the potential of the soil and the aspect, he promptly acquired the property, this was 1972. He started from scratch planting only Sangiovese. The first wines were made in 1975, the first “commercial” releases being the 1977. The wine was almost always bottled as a Brunello Riserva, with a few exceptions, until changing to “Toscana 100% Sangiovese Soldera” from 2006*. The only other wines/labels released were “Pegasos” in 2005 when one cask matured precociously and “Intistieti” in 1985/87/88/91/92 which was a “table wine” made from the youngest vines.
*there were bottlings of 2006 under both “Brunello” and “Toscana Sangiovese”
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THE VINEYARD An important early alliance (from 1976) was with the winemaker Giulio Gambelli, “il grande maestro del Sangiovese”.
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Gambelli continued to consult at Case Basse® until his death in 2012. The two men discovered common ground, both ideologically and more prosaically on such topics as minimal intervention, no temperature control, no added yeasts, long maceration on skins and long ageing in large Slavonian botti. Although the estate is referred to as Case Basse, the name of the Azienda Agricola, it is composed of two vineyards, Case Basse and Intistieti, of which Case Basse is the smaller. The vineyards lie on the southern side of Montalcino, facing southwest. They are separated by some 400 metres. Case Basse, covering two hectares and planted in 1972, is about ten metres higher in elevation than Intistieti, which is twice the size at four hectares and was planted in 1973. The planting density is around 3,300 vines per hectare, the vines being planted on limestone and schist. Gianfranco went to great lengths to foster a symbiotic relationship between the vines and their surroundings. The vineyards are set within eight hectares of woodlands, with Graziella’s bucolic two hectare garden adjacent to the estate buildings (complete with a panoply of bees,
which rise from the ankle-level lavender rather alarmingly as you brush past it). Case Basse was and is constantly evolving as Gianfranco and now Monica and family look for ways in which to encourage a bird- and insect-rich environment. Oat straw is scattered between the vines, revitalising the soil, allowing it to breathe and protecting the roots. Totally organic, Gianfranco was convinced that foreign agents ultimately end up in the wine. The vines themselves are tended with extraordinary attention to detail. Everything is done by hand, pruning hard and short in winter, with a further green pruning during the season. The vines are cordontrained (a mixture of single and double cordons) and spurpruned. The canes are allowed to grow as long as they can, unimpeded, Gianfranco believed that they should never be cut. Indeed, in the entrance to the cellar, there is a wallmounted cane of vast proportions as a clear statement of best practice. 118 leaves and 300 grams of grapes per cane is the average. Paolo, Monica’s husband, spent many years in the vineyards working with Gianfranco and it is Paolo who is now very much the man in the vines.
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
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To find out more about Corney & Barrow visit www.corneyandbarrow.com.hk or www.corneyandbarrow.com.sg
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
THE CELLAR Gianfranco was clear that great wine is made through ruthless, sometimes maniacal selection in the vineyard. The tiny yields in some vintages certainly bear this out. In contrast, there is an almost total absence of intervention in vinification. The extraordinary cellar, 14 metres below ground, designed by architect Stefano Lambardi and built in 2001, has a real beauty in its contrived simplicity. It is completely cement and plaster free, the walls having been built with stones wedged into wire netting. This is all to allow the building to breathe and the wine to mature even more slowly than in the past. The wine is bottled unfiltered, direct from the botti, the absence of an intermediary holding tank meaning there may well be some variation between different bottlings. Gianfranco would not have had it any other way. The bottles, unique to Soldera, have been chosen for optimal wine conservation, dark in colour to protect against the light, long-necked in order to take supreme quality corks. Once bottled, the wine is given time to acclimatise. The label features a dolphin, sacred to Dionysus (Bacchus for the Romans), god of wine and fertility, which is also to be found in statue form in the centre of Graziella’s wonderful garden.
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
WHEN AND HOW TO DRINK SOLDERA I make no apologies for repeating the below yet again: I feel strongly, and more so every year, that the many different ways in which “Brunello” is made can lead to some popular misconceptions that should not apply to this specific wine. Gianfranco was always very definite on how his wines should be served. The wine should always be served cool, at what one might refer to as cellar temperature, allowing time to open and evolve. It should not be decanted. If a decanter must be used for an older bottle then it should be as narrow and near to bottleshaped as possible. Gianfranco had also designed his own glasses. He believed that glasses should not be too wide. Personally, I feel the biggest missed opportunity occurs when people assume these are bold, rich wines that have to be aged for extended time; Gianfranco believed the bottles should be upright not lying down. They do age exceptionally well but to not drink these wines in youth, as well as with age, is an error. A great wine is always a great wine and that is never truer than here. Soldera wines have amongst the broadest drinking windows of any wines I know. In the 2006 offer: “Tasting these wines one can only marvel at their complexity, their ability to be luscious, weightless, elegant, refined and yet powerful. They have subliminal authority and intensity.” This may seem a patronising title for a section of this offer. It is not meant to be.
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THE 2016 VINTAGE Well, a lot of what you need to know about the quality of 2016 can be seen from the fact that the production was 14,511 bottles and 1,278 magnums – so, in reference to the quote, no need to reduce… The Soldera Technical Sheet, compiled for each vintage, looks like nothing else we receive – it has the feel of an official certificate. It goes to show exactly how detail orientated the estate is and how well studied and monitored the vines are. From bloom to harvest the 2016 growing season was 116 days long (compared with 129 days in 2014 and 114 in 2015).
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The season can be split into two distinct halves, the bloom (budbreak) to veraison (change of grapes colour from green to red) phase, lasting 63 days being marked by a particularly mild June and a slightly higher than average rainfall. The veraison to harvest section, at 53 days, maximum temperatures were often lower than average with the rainfall not far off the 10 years average. The vintage’s weather lacked “heat waves” and saw a lovely full ripeness. Both vineyards were kept under continuous inspection with the aim to eliminate, from each vine by hand, any bunches that were not perfectly healthy. The harvest started on September 20th. After the harvest the grapes were scrutinised in the cellar before full destemming. Both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations followed in a predictable, uneventful fashion. Ageing was carried out in large Slavonian oak barrels for 45 months.
“I produce on average 15,000 bottles a year. But I drastically reduce the number if the vintage is not up to scratch due to bad weather” Gianfranco Soldera
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
SOLDERA 2016 One never spits in the Soldera cellar. Although this year we had to taste “at home” I can assure you there was no spitting. Profound charm and elegant hedonism - 2016 is just so exciting. I can think of no other wine that vintage after vintage is so even in its performance from barrel (large botti) into bottle and into maturity – it never seems to sulk or to be shy. As ever, it seems to be both substantial and ethereal. The nose is sublime. Ripe resinous red fruits and new “sweet” leather with a little spice and even grey pepper coming in. Emphatically persistent. The palate is graceful, elegant even, with no hard edges – the levels of moreishness here are simply awesome. It is easy to be lulled into a sense of immediacy but this wine has a structure born of stealth and balance. The length and complexity of fruit are simply brilliant. Which takes me back to the opening quote - there is nothing to add and nothing to take away. I described the 2015 as “addictive” well this goes further it is wine of real emotion – An absolute joy! Corney & Barrow Score 19-19+ Recommended drinking from 2022 - 2045+
Price On Application
To Order HONG KONG
+852 3694 3333
hongkong@corneyandbarrow.com SINGAPORE
+65 6221 8530
singapore@corneyandbarrow.com PLEASE NOTE These wines are released en primeur. Delivery dates to be confirmed. All prices are quoted in bond UK.
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Paolo, Monica and Thibaut.
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2016 VINTAGE
To find out more about Corney & Barrow visit www.corneyandbarrow.com.hk or www.corneyandbarrow.com.sg
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
THE ALLOCATION There is nothing much to add to the eloquent offer written by Will Hargrove. To the most frequently asked question at the time of the release of the new Vintage: How many bottles should I order? The answer is my honest belief and backed by experience. You should ask for what you will be happy to hold in your collection and drink in the years to come having in mind that our allocation is sold out each release now. This wine is addictive and when you have your first sip, you are hooked for life. With a human-sized production, it is hard to get hold of the wine afterward. So get some while you can! While Gianfranco is no longer around, the wine remains true to what it is. Soldera is still made with only the best bunches from the two vineyards (Case Basse and Intistieti) and aged slowly & patiently in the underground cellar, in large botti, until the family deems the vintage ready to be released. Gianfranco was a chef d’orchestre helping a vineyard, a grape variety and Mother Nature to produce the best expression of Sangiovese. He had surrounded himself with a team who knows the tune by heart and the new Conduttore, Monica is carrying out this task brilliantly.
THIBAUT MATHIEU Managing Director Corney & Barrow Hong Kong Ltd
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CONTACT US
Our Locations
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HONG KONG Corney and Barrow Hong Kong Limited Unit D, 6th Floor 9 Queen’s Road Central Hong Kong T +852 3694 3333 hongkong@corneyandbarrow.com
SINGAPORE 101 Cecil Street, #16-07 Tong Eng Building, Singapore, 069533 T +65 6221 8530 singapore@corneyandbarrow.com
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To find out more about Corney & Barrow visit www.corneyandbarrow.com.hk or www.corneyandbarrow.com.sg
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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780
www.corneyandbarrow.com.hk | www.corneyandbarrow.com.sg