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Case Basse di Gianfranco Soldera Brunello di Montalcino Riserva
Case
Basse di Gianfranco Soldera Brunello di Montalcino Riserva:
[kah-zeh bahs-seh jahn-f(l)rahn-ko
sol-deh-(l)rah]
"Striving for quality: that’s the point.
There was a time when great care was taken in the
search for beauty and excellence. Then the masses
came to prefer the façade to what lies behind
it. " —Gianfranco Soldera, Betwixt
Nature and Passion
Terroir is the word at Soldera’s Case Basse
estate. He set out to find a great piece of land—scouring
Piemonte, the Veneto, and Toscana—and settled
at an abandoned, decrepit Montalcino farmhouse in
1972, planting his minute plots, Case Basse (approximately
2 hectares) and Intistieti (approximately 4.5), over
a two-year period (1972 and ’73, respectively).
He chose to plant Sangiovese exclusively, believing
it to be the only grape that possessed a genuine synergy
with the land.
What he’s done with that Sangiovese has become
Montalcino’s most captivating modern legend,
a tale that is set in a magical kingdom of sorts….The
Case Basse estate effectually constitutes an idyllic
habitat, one which has been designed to operate in
a state of continuous balance, honored through a complex
yet wholly organic operation. It is here that the
animal kingdom reflects its most perfect self, as
every contributor is there for a reason. The wife
of Soldera, Graziella, nurtures her own domain in
this resplendent world—a rose garden featuring
over 1,500 species.
As is to be expected, Soldera exercises a precise
and meticulous regimen in the vineyard, privileging
a painstaking “by hand” approach to several
procedures. Brunellos issuing from this realm constitute
their own category, being unrivaled by any other expression
bearing the Montalcino designation.
Collectors of Soldera tend to be fanatical in their
pursuit of his limited-production Brunellos, and their
efforts often constitute a labor of love—not
only due to the wines’ scarcity, but to the
labeling issues they inevitably incur. You see, Soldera’s
labeling methodology doesn’t reflect the meticulous
precision defining his viticultural operations; in
fact, it’s the only element of his world that’s
rather undisciplined. In order to begin to grasp Soldera,
you have to let go of the conventional rules and temporarily
suspend logic—but then again, the world of Case
Basse is a separate universe, parallel to no other
and effectually an entity unto itself, where not every
label is what it seems to be….
Soldera drew upon Intistieti exclusively in his early
years of Brunello production, as its soils were poorer
than those of Case Basse, rendering it the more suited
of the two to delivering wines of structure. As the
estate’s eponymous cru was growing into its
future role as a source of profound Brunello, Soldera
put it to use in a Vino da Tavola Rosso bottling that
is effectually the equivalent of a present-day Rosso
di Montalcino. However, it wasn’t the only one
that was being used in the Vino da Tavola role: When
a wine failed to merit Soldera’s exacting qualitative
specifications for the Brunello di Montalcino designation,
it was classified as Vino da Tavola Intistieti. The
first of these was made in 1985 (along with a Vino
da Tavola from Case Basse), and while its early successors
did indeed represent their source, Soldera changed
things up—to great confusion—in the 1987
vintage, as the wine released under the Intistieti
label was sourced from Case Basse. The rationale behind
the somewhat misleading label? Nothing more profound
than the fact that Soldera liked the Intistieti name,
a personal preference that he chose to exercise again
in both 1988 and 1991. He followed the latter of these
with a Vino da Tavola Intistieti that comprised both
vineyards.
Sufficiently dazed and confused? But this somewhat
irrational, self-serving modus operandi doesn’t
end there.
In the 1990 vintage, Case Basse made its debut Brunello
showing, while Intistieti served as the source of
Soldera’s Riserva. In some years, though, the
normale Brunello is wholly a Case Basse production,
while in others, like 1996, it is a blend of the best
from both crus. Also, in 1995, Soldera produced the
first riserva from Case Basse; in 2001, both crus
delivered riservas. Notable vintages of Case Basse
include its debuts as both a normale and a riserva
expression (1990 and 1995, respectively).
What’s going on inside the bottle is just as
difficult to grasp. A Soldera wine can defy translation,
being prone to dramatic changes in intervals of mere
seconds. Perhaps Soldera captured it best when he
asked Sergio, “Can’t you taste the Case
Basse in my wines?” But that taste, of course,
as indicated above, is elicited and carefully transmitted
through an organic methodology and precise viticultural
and vinification techniques, including winter pruning,
an exacting green harvest, hand cultivation of the
vines, and a meticulous grape selection process. The
rigorous regimen continues in the cellar, where a
lengthy maceration averaging between 14 and 25 days
transpires. Thereafter, the wine is aged sans temperature
control in large Slavonian oak casks—presiding
over a grottolike space (which enables uninhibited
circulation of the air)—over the course of a
five-year period (with the riservas receiving an additional
year’s aging).
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Wine: Brunello di Montalcino Producer: Case Basse di Gianfranco Soldera
Varietal(s): Sangiovese Grosso
Region: Toscana
Province: Siena
Commune: Montalcino
Vineyard(s): Intistieti,
Case Basse
Altitude: 300 meters
Classification: Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Case Production: 750 cases (in select vintages)
More Landmark Wines:
Biondi-Santi Brunello Ris.
Il Poggione Brunello
Cerbaiola Brunello
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