Soldera mini-Vertical

Il Grappolo Blu (CPH)
Tasted Monday, January 26, 2009 by canan with 875 views

Introduction

The tasting was set up by the official danish importer of Soldera, www.bb-vinimport.dk at present at the tasting was Monica Soldera from the estate.

The wines was accompanied by a diner created by the Il Grappolo Blu restaurant in Copenhagen.

I had highly anticipated an interesting evening as I had never tasted any older vintages from Soldera.

Flight 1 (1 Note)

  • 2005 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Pegasos Toscana IGT

    Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

    Basically a wine from a single Brunello barrel that Soldera believed had developed too soon and decided to release this as an IGT.
    The nose is restrictive and initially only shows hints of barnyard. After some time in the glass it did open up a little bit with animalistic tones and some kirsch.
    Mostly primary fruit on the palate with a vibrant and "clean" acidity but unfortunately only a medium aftertaste.
    I tasted this over a long time but never got it to really open up. At the tasting it did come on as a little bit unfocused.

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Flight 2 (1 Note)

  • 1986 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    A very special nose that initially was quite oxidized but it blew away and with time it opened up nicely with a little dust, vanilla, coffee and flowers.
    The palate was on the other hand very good! Sweet cherries accompanied by a very elegant acidity and the wine seems to be in a perfect balance. Long and impressive length with great complexity displaying dark spices and black tea.
    An elegant and feminine wine.

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Flight 3 (1 Note)

  • 1990 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    At first the nose seems a little closed but it opened up nicely with mild spices and sweet tea.
    The cherry fruit on the palate is powerful and almost wild with still very harsh taninns. The acidity is stunning and collects everything nicely in this perfectly balanced wine. The palate is complex with rosemary, thyme, dark plum etc.. The wine is at this age quite powerful but still in an almost perfect balance.
    To me, this was clearly the WOTN and one of the best wines I have ever tasted.

    At the end of the tasting I went back and found a bottle with some left and when lifting the glass up I almost couldn't believe it.. It had actually gained weight with an even more powerful fruit and had also gotten a creamy texture.

    Completely insane wine that is off the charts.

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Flight 4 (1 Note)

  • 1994 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    Barnyard/kirsch nose with some smoke, coffee and cherry.
    The palate is full-bodied with a little warm fruit and piercing acidity. Good length but with rather harsh tannins. After some time in the glass it sheds the overdone fruit but it still seems a little bit unbalanced.
    Drinking very nicely right now.

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Flight 5 (1 Note)

  • 1993 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    A little volatile acidity were present together with some wet cardboard which initially made me think that the wine was defective.
    There was long discussions about whether or not it was corked but to me it definately was.
    The taste had almost no fruit a very dry finish and almost seemed hollow in the middle.

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Flight 6 (1 Note)

Flight 7 (1 Note)

  • 1997 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    Great expectations due to the vintage but they were never really met.
    Starts out nicely with a very tight nose with cherry, medicin and orange peel.
    The palate is unfortunately a little bit singular with a light cherry fruit and brutal tannin and acidity. It seems to me that the fruit is too elegant compared to the tannins and acidity but currently it seems unstructured. Only time will tell how this wine will end but with this sample I was not convinced.

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Flight 8 (1 Note)

Flight 9 (1 Note)

  • 1983 Soldera (Az. Agr. Case Basse) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

    Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino

    This wine was actually poured as one of the first in the tasting but we were recommended to keep this in the glass for as long as possible as it seemed to have completely shut down.
    There was extensive discussions about whether or not it was corked and it was believed that more air would get it to shed its oxidized nose.
    I had it in the glass for 3-4 hours but never really got it to open up and give me any nuances. Apparantly others had better luck and it was supposedly amazing..
    Some times you win and some times you loose :-)

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Closing

It was clearly a very educational and interesting evening with some very impressive wines.
To me (now) Soldera is all about elegance and balance and in the right vintages it is definately one of the best wines in the world.
What I really noticed was that the Soldera wines is an expression of what the grape actually tastes like in its purest form.
WOTN for me was definately the 1990 Riserva which is just stunning and simply an experience for life!

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