Soldera 2014 Vintage

SOLDER A 2014 VINTAGE

EXCLUSIVE TO CORNEY & BARROW IN HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, MAINLAND CHINA, MACAU, THAILAND, MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA

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“I use the word magic advisedly, coming back to it again and again when I’m lucky enough to drink Soldera’s wines. Gianfranco had it in his fingertips. His wines are alive.”

Ella Lister, Gianfranco Soldera (1937-2019), The World of Fine Wine.

To find out more about Corney & Barrow visit www.corneyandbarrow.com.hk

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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780

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INTRODUCTION In truth I have been putting off writing this introduction.

The reason is simple: a fear of not doing justice to Gianfranco Soldera now that he is so sadly no longer with us, having died on 16th February this year. Opposite this introduction you will find Adam’s note from February.

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One often hears the advice “never meet your heroes”. Well I met one of mine, in Mr Soldera - anything less respectful somehow feels wrong - on several occasions and I will never regret one of them. He was, to me, a great man of very clear contrasts; fiery by reputation but a very warm man. Opinionated but at the same time a good listener.

Intimidating but approachable. Full of conviction that his ways were the best but endlessly allowing his vineyards to be studied and monitored. A man of many interests and passions but also of completely singular drive.

The thing I will always remember, and miss the most, is the twinkle in the eye; he was young at heart. This may well explain why he was so interested in helping the young. There is no clearer illustration of this than when Gianfranco decided that what little wine remained from 2010, a legendary vintage, would be bottled in large formats and auctioned around the world for childrens’ charities and especially those focusing on reading and education. Thibaut Mathieu (Managing Director, C&B Asia) and his team did a great job in Hong Kong (each 5 litre bottle of the 2010 raising US $32,000) as other agents have around the world.

If we look at Gianfranco’s achievements in wine I would sum them up in one bold, but I believe accurate, statement: Nowhere in wine has one producer so perfectly encapsulated and dominated a single grape variety, Sangiovese, as Gianfranco did.

I will miss Gianfranco greatly, the animated discussions, the hat, braces and scarf, no spitting in the cellar. So sad that we do not have him anymore but I am at least consoled that we have his wines and great guardians of Case Basse in Monica, Mauro and the wider family.

WILL HARGROVE Head of Fine Wine, July 2019

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It is with deep regret that I announce the death of Gianfranco Soldera whose fabulous estate near Montalcino, Soldera, Case Basse we represent in Asia (excluding Japan).

We first met Gianfranco through Roberto Conterno on a memorable evening in July 2012. Over the years, we met and got to know extremely well Gianfranco, his son Mauro and daughter Monica and they became family. On a personal level, I found him the most extraordinary and wonderful man and shall miss him enormously.

Gianfranco died aged 82 of a heart attack in the middle of the vineyard that he so loved. I can think of no more appropriate ending nor his contentment that the future of Soldera is in safe hands with his daughter and son.

We send our deepest and fondest thoughts to the family at this difficult time.

ADAM BRETT-SMITH February 2019

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BACKGROUND 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 (never being afraid to do so). 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 vintage.

“In a brilliant career that spanned five decades, Gianfranco Soldera established himself as one of the world’s most inspired and iconic winemakers. His untimely passing leaves an immeasurable void. Soldera’s wines remain an enduring legacy of his remarkable life and complex, dynamic personality.” Antonio Galloni, Remembering Gianfranco Soldera Vinous.com, April 2019.

To find out more about Corney & Barrow visit www.corneyandbarrow.com.hk

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THE VINEYARD An important early alliance 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, 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 in eight hectares of woodlands, with Graziella’s

wonderful two hectare garden adjacent to the estate buildings.

Case Basse has constantly evolved as Gianfranco looked 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.

Being specific - 118 leaves and 300 grams of grapes per cane is the average.

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THE CELLAR Gianfranco is clear that great wine is made through ruthless, sometimes maniacal selection in the vineyard and never more so than in 2014.

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In contrast, there is a total absence of intervention in vinification. The extraordinary cellar, 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, think sea-defences. This is all to allow the building to “breathe” and the wine to mature even more slowly and crucially in tune with nature.

The wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, direct from the botti, the absence of an intermediary holding tank meaning

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there may well be some variation between different botti (this is not the case in 2014, as sadly, there was only one botti). Gianfranco would not have it any other way. The bottles, unique to Soldera, have been chosen for optimal wine conservation, dark green in colour to protect against the light, deep punted and long-necked in order to take supreme quality corks in a totally parallel fashion. Once bottled, the wine is given time to acclimatise. The label features a dolphin, sacred to Dionysus, god of wine and fertility, which is also to be found in statue form in the centre of Graziella’s splendid garden.

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“And what about the 2014? The last time I sampled it from cask, it was deeply moving” Antonio Galloni, Remembering Gianfranco Soldera, Vinous.com, April 2019.

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WHEN AND HOW TO DRINK SOLDERA I make no apologies for repeating a slightly updated version of the below that I first wrote for the 2009 offer.

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I feel strongly that the many different ways in which Brunello is made can lead to some popular misconceptions that do not apply to this specific wine. Gianfranco is also 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 (approximately 1213 degrees), allowing time to open and evolve. It should not be decanted (and certainly not double decanted). If a decanter must be used for an older bottle then it should be as narrow and bottle-shaped as possible. Gianfranco also designed his own wine glasses, to be used for all wines. 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 stored upright, not lying down. They do age exceptionally well but not to drink these wines in youth, as well as with age, is a fundamental mistake.

A great wine is always a great wine and that is never truer than here. Soldera wines have the widest drinking windows of any wines I know. I think Alison Buchanan summed it up very well 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.”

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INDEPENDENT WINE MERCHANT SINCE 1780

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“A small crop but a big wine” Gianfranco on Soldera 2014

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THE 2014 VINTAGE

The “Technical Sheet” received each vintage is quite something, going well beyond those supplied by most producers – no surprises there then. It reiterates exactly how detail-orientated the estate is and how well studied and monitored. From bloom to harvest, the 2014 growing season was a long one at 129 days (exactly the same length as for 2013). The season can be split into two distinct halves, the bloom (budbreak) to véraison (change of grapes colour from green to red) phase, lasting 67 days, being cooler and wetter than the average. The véraison to harvest section, at 62 days, was also cooler than average, again with higher rainfall. Both vineyards – Case Basse & Intistieti - were kept under continuous inspection, on foot and by camera, with the aim to eliminate, from each vine by hand, any bunches that were not perfectly healthy. The 2014 was a very small harvest (production figures below) due to this savage selection. Fortunately the 2015 production is back to “normal”, at approximately 2.5 times that of 2014.

The harvest was carried out on 30th September. After the harvest the grapes were scrutinised in the cellar by eye before going through a vertical vibrating destemmersorter. Both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations followed in a correct, uneventful fashion. Ageing was carried out in large Slavonian oak barrels for more than 48 months. Just under the equivalent of 830 cases (12x75cl) were produced. Bottles and magnums were the only formats bottled.

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.

Soldera 2014 Gianfranco described the wine as “a small crop but a big wine”, similar to 2002 on both fronts. A challenging growing season always brings out the best in the estate – 2002 was an interesting case in point with Soldera 2002 and Monfortino 2002, arguably the greatest wines of the vintage in Italy. 2014 promises to echo that very achievement (for both wines).

Soldera 2014 has a bright deep red yet transparent colour.

Gorgeous red fruit on the nose hints at sweetness - bright and pure. The palate has a darker soul, more savoury but at the same time lifted, with glimpses of the red fruits from the nose.

The richness on the palate is kept perfectly in check with a very moreish texture and a good dash of trademark salinity.

The tannic structure is there but, as always with Soldera it sits in the wine, not after it or around it, great balance. Every sip brings new layers. Quite some wine this, intense and deep but dancing very well. The last sip is always a sad moment. A wide drinking window as ever!

Corney & Barrow Score 18++ Recommended drinking from 2020 - 2042+

Price On Application

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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

Online

FACEBOOK @CorneyandBarrowAsia

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Gianfranco Soldera 1937 - 2019

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