The 1997 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Case Basse, which spent over four years in cask, is medium garnet in color but brilliant and vivid in hue. The intense and elegant aromas of wild cherries, red currants, cinnamon, and blood oranges are followed by a palate of superior continuity, energy, and drive. Medium to full-bodied but fine grained and silky, it is focused, long and of superior persistence. The 1997 is closer in style to the 1995 than the blockbuster Brunello Riservas produced in 1983, 1985, 1990 and 1993, something of which Soldera seems well aware. He did not produce his single-vineyard Intistieti Riserva. After a slight stumble in 1996, Gianfranco Soldera is back in full stride. The man is a controversial figure in Montalcino, but a large part of the antagonism of his peers is simply due to the fact that his wines are indisputably better, the best in the zone in fact.

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