Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2005 75cl

The 2005 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva emerges from the glass with soft red cherries, licorice, tobacco and sweet herbs. It is a pretty wine with gorgeous inner perfume and fine overall balance, but I don-t see much of the trademark Soldera structure. Take it from someone who has had the privilege of tasting virtually every wine that has ever been made here, the 2005 - while good - is miles away from Soldera-s recent masterpieces. This is Lot C83. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025. A visit to Case Basse is one of the great experiences in the world of wine. I spent several hours with Gianfranco Soldera in February going through every cask in the cellar. At their best, Soldera-s wines have few peers anywhere in the world. I am less enamored about the cask-by-cask bottling, since the two vineyard sources (Case Basse and Intistieti) aren-t clearly identified on the labels. Rather, today all of the Brunelli are simply issued as -Riserva.- Soldera claims his customers would be confused by having the vineyard names on the labels, but he is selling them short. At this level, consumers, collectors and connoisseurs want to know the details about wines. Think about Burgundy, where wine lovers want to know not just the name of the vineyards, but the exact positioning of each grower's rows/plots, etc. Over the course of a week in Montalcino I drank four bottles of Soldera's 1990 Riserva, a wine that remains epic if you get the right cask. At this level of rarity and price, consumers should not have that worry. And yes, the wines were markedly - and I do mean markedly - different.