2009 Gianfranco Soldera Casse Basse IGT

Rose petals, licorice, underbrush, saddle leather and spice frame this wine’s expressive, racy Sangiovese Grosso fruit. Powerful, fresh and caressing, this ’09 Rosso is very clearly a Soldera wine, and although it can’t be called a Brunello, it is one in all but its name. The product of a ripe vintage with a midsummer heat spike, this ’09 Soldera bottling shows its maker’s mastery in its impeccable balance, kaleidoscopic palate and caressing texture. Since his first harvest in 1975, Soldera always vinified the same way--aging his wine traditionally in large Slavonian oak for five years and then an additional six to 12 months in bottle before release--but in 2008, Soldera shifted his protocol, aging partly in botti and finishing the wine’s aging in stainless steel before bottling. 2009 was one of the vintages that ended up on the floors of Soldera’s cantina in the 2012 act of vandalism, and there were just 700 cases of this exceptional wine made.