EXCLUSIVE TO C&B IN ASIA (Exc TAIWAN, JAPAN, KOREA AND PHILIPPINES)
Unsurprisingly my first trip after travel resumed last year was to Italy – to Piedmont and then to Montalcino. It was a joy to get to Soldera to see Monica and Paolo, a special moment to be at Case Basse where it was as though nothing had happened. The reality is of course different, but the perfection of the site really struck me even more than usual – a sort of vibrant tranquility.
I tasted a number of vintages from botti and all I can say is that the quality of what lies in wait is awesome. The 2017 offered here had just been bottled and so was actually tasted by the Asia board members in London (see Thibaut’s note later in the offer).
As I said last year 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.
This 2017 produced, under challenging conditions, is quite extraordinary.
WILL HARGROVE Head of Fine WineMay 2022
“After trying unsuccessfully for years to find land in Piedmont, Soldera chanced upon a magical piece of ground in Montalcino. At the time, the prevailing wisdom on vineyards dictated that the best sites were south-facing, as these were the warmest sites. Back then the issue was achieving full ripeness. But Soldera had a different philosophy. He chased luminosity above all else. And so Case Basse was ideal. The west-facing site was perfectly suited to capturing the entirety of the day’s sunlight.”
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com
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 never 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 –something he was never afraid to do. 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” (in reality anything but humble!) made from the youngest vines.
An important early alliance (from 1976) was with the winemaker Giulio Gambelli, “il grande maestro del Sangiovese”.
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, lack of 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 wonderful 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 cordon-trained (a mixture of single and double cordons) and spur-pruned. 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 wall-mounted 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 and cellar.
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 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 (for further intrigue). 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.
Gianfranco was clear that great wine is made through ruthless, sometimes maniacal selection in the vineyard.
I feel strongly, and more so every year, that the many different ways (though the more sensitive school is winning out thankfully) in which “Brunello” is made can lead to some popular misconceptions that should not be applied to Soldera. 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 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 need to be aged for extended time; Gianfranco believed the bottles should be stored upright not lying down (assuming good humidity). 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. It was well summed it up 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. Wines this great are rare and maximising enjoyment is everything.
I make no apologies for repeating the below again:
“A great wine should always be paired with great food, without limits”
Gianfranco Soldera
As with the 2016, a lot of what you need to know about the quality of 2017 can be seen from the fact that the production was 11,149 bottles and 378 magnums – so, in reference to the quote, the opposite of a need to reduce…
The “Technical Dossier” that accompanies each vintage is quite something – 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 ecosystem and specifically the vines are. From flowering to harvest the 2017 growing season was just 93 days long (compared with 129 days in 2014, 114 days in 2015 and 116 days in 2016). The season can be split into two distinct halves, the bloom (budbreak) to véraison (change of grapes colour from green to red) phase, lasting 60 days being marked by a particularly hot June with much lower-than-average rainfall. The véraison to harvest section, at 33 days was an extreme heatwave with peaks over 40 degrees in the first days of August and almost no rain at all. The harvest started on August 26th (compared to September 20th in 2016). After the harvest the grapes were scrutinised in the cellar before full de-stemming. Both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations followed in a predictable, uneventful fashion. Ageing was carried out in large Slavonian oak barrels for 47 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
Like a child I still get excited when I see a bottle of Soldera. The 2017 has a lovely red berry attack, with a little showing of gentle spice to the nose. A certain opulence but a correctness too. The air has a lovely affect here opening the fruit up further to reveal darker fruits but always finishing sweet and lifted.
To not try this wine in youth, let’s say under 9 years from vintage, really is a missed opportunity. All the heat of the vintage seems not to leave the merest blemish - 2017 is just so enticing. As with all great wine, it begs to drunk and to be thought about in equal measure – superb. The texture is medium bodied and moreish, there is less saline that in some years. A wine for the hedonist for sure.
Corney & Barrow Score 18+
Recommended drinking from 2023 - 2040
Price On Application
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. This wine is addictive and when you have had your first sip, you will be hooked. So, get some while you can! Although Gianfranco is no longer around, the wine remains true to its identity. Soldera is still made with only the best bunches from the two vineyards sites (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 finest expression of Sangiovese. He surrounded himself with a team who knew the tune by heart, and the new Conduttore Monica continues this task brilliantly.
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There is always an excitement when tasting a new vintage of Soldera. But as you open the bottle and pour a glass, you pause and refocus, preparing yourself to dive into the wine. However, as is often the case with a young vintage from a great producer, it can be the wine that is jumping out at you! This was certainly the case when we opened a bottle of the 2017 vintage that was kindly sent to London by Monica Soldera. Not being able to go to Italy on my most recent short trip to Europe, I had arranged to taste the wine after the C&B Hong Kong Board meeting. The dining room of Brooks’* was the perfect set-up for this serious assessment. The participants were Adam Brett-Smith, Bryce Fraser, Will Hargrove and myself. The uniqueness of the moment was palpable. My first impression following the initial nose made me tilt my head up and observe the other tasters and their reactions. It was a Soldera but a little blurry, not as vibrant as usual. On the second smell, the vivacity of fruit —the hallmark of this gorgeous wine— started to emerge. The first sip was as expected, elegant, vibrant, long, with the unmistakable finesse and persistence of Soldera. When we shared our respective notes, we made similar comments, all agreeing that the heat of the vintage had been overcome by that distinctive Soldera character. The challenges posed by draught in 2017 required all the experience and expertise of the team to produce a little over 11,000 bottles that would bear that iconic label. Considering what the late Gianfranco, Monica and Paulo have achieved here, the severe drop in volume is a price worth paying. Bravo Soldera.
Director - Corney & Barrow Asia
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SINGAPORE
Corney & Barrow Limited (Singapore Branch) 101 Cecil Street, #16-07 Tong Eng Building, Singapore, 069533
T +65 6221 8530 singapore@corneyandbarrow.com
SHANGHAI
Corney and Barrow Fine Wine Merchants (Shanghai) Ltd Room 2043, Floor 20, No. 989 Changle Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai
T +86 21 5117 5472 Shanghai@corneyandbarrow.cn
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