At dinner last night, our plan was to be seduced by this producer of exquisite Brunello from his Case Basse estate. First, a visit from Angelo Gaja in the form of a 1997 RossJ Bass - Cindy said it was a Chardonnay from the Langhe. It had a lovely nutty, mineral nose, but tasted somewhat oxidized, and a disappointment from this great man.
We were anxious to see what allure Soldera could provide. 1993 Case Base - a medium ruby color, and upon first taste, I announced that if this is all we could have tonight, it would be a good night. Some raspberries and sour cherries on the nose, lots of acidity with a strong cherry flavor and a lingering acidic finish. Very nice, although Kim found it unbalanced when compared to the next wine. 1994 Case Basse Riserva - the color was more purple than the 1993. I didn't get much on the nose, but it had great depth on the palate showing cherries, leather and some floral. Still had some tannins, and a terrific finish. Fabulous wine. We should have ended our evening with these two beauties since the 1995 Intistieti was corked. We thought about some of the other visitors who could provide pleasure, i.e. Aldo Conterno, Bruno Giacosa, Luciano Sandrone, all waiting in the wings, should Soldera fail us. We chose to remain loyal to Gianfranco since we were drawn into the beauty, intensity, and complexity of his wines. The others will always be there when we need them.
