Soldera Case Basse

The Soldera Case Basse winery is located in the stronghold region of Brunello in Montalcino, Italy, and stands for excellent quality wines. The winemaker, who offends with his unusual manner, is anything but traditional.

The story behind the extraordinary owner

The owner Gianfranco Soldera is no ordinary winemaker: the former insurance broker from Milan fulfilled a dream with his wife Graziella and founded the Soldera Case Basse winery in the small Italian town of Montalcino in 1972. The region in Tuscany is famous for its excellent Brunello, which cannot be compared to other red wines.

Today, daughter Monica and her husband Paolo take care of the production of the wines after the founder died of a heart attack in 2019: from cultivation to harvesting and pressing, they put a lot of work, time and love into it. But of course, wine lovers do not primarily appreciate the efforts of the winegrowers, but buy a promise of quality and enjoyment, which the comprehensive work process entails. Soldera Case Basse's wines are considered to be the best in the area.

Soldera Case Basse wine varieties

The winemaker was known for not caring much about wine tasters and critics. Even today, old family traditions are maintained in the wine production in order to produce the excellent quality. The wines are pressed in Slavonian oak for five years. Without exception, chemical fertilizers and pure culture yeasts are not used in wine production: Instead, modern technical aids are used, which are even used by university institutions for research work.

The estate mainly presses Brunello, which is obtained as a clone from the Sangiovese grape variety. The aim of the owner has always been to grow healthy vines without using chemicals. In particular, this results in the finesse of the Brunello, which is characterized by a strong character with fruity notes of raspberry and blackberry.

Montalcino: Home of the traditional Brunello

Montalcino is a small town in Tuscany famous for its excellent Brunello. Red wine has been produced in the community since the 19th century. The sunny climate with little rainfall in the summer months favors high-yield wine-growing.

All about the growing area

In the early 1970s, Soldera and his wife were looking for the perfect growing area in Tuscany. To this end, he was the first winemaker to create a sustainable ecosystem in order to create the best possible conditions.

Today, the vines grow on around 23 hectares at an altitude of 320 meters above sea level. The green hill lies to the south-west and offers ideal conditions for wine-growing. Around 16,000 bottles are produced annually, with quality being the top priority. This is decisive for the number of liters to be produced. If the winemaker Soldera is not one hundred percent satisfied with his harvest in a year, he skips the vintage completely. This happened, among other things, in 1989.

Anecdotes that make the wine special

In 2012 there was a case of serious vandalism: the barrels of up to six-year-old Brunello were opened overnight by a former employee out of envy and thus made undrinkable. The wine, which was almost ready to be bottled, spilled and so more than 62,000 liters spilled onto the floor of the wine cellar.

The owner and his wife were sleeping only 200 meters away that night and were unaware of the incident. Surprisingly, the perpetrator did not steal any valuables such as computers or prepackaged wines that were stored in the wine cellar, even though a bottle of wine costs around 165 to 240 euros. However, the damage incurred amounted to between five and seven million euros and represented an enormous loss for the winemaker and for lovers of traditional Brunello.