2015 Brunello di Montalcino

Solaria was founded in 1990 when Patrizia Cencioni split from her brother Patrizio Cencioni, owner of Capanna (the Solaria buildings were bought in 1987). Originally the estate was seven hectares large (all of Brunello-designated vineyards) but it has grown over the years and now owns 7.67 hectares of Brunello vines and 2.20ha in Sant’Antimo (Cencioni prefers to bottle her international blend under the banner of the better known Toscana Rosso). Solaria produces about 10,000 bottles of Rosso a year (all declassified Brunello), roughly 20,000 of Brunello, 4,000 bottles of a Brunello Riserva and 5,000 bottles of the IGT. In 2018 Valentino Ciarla took over from Paolo Vagaggini, the very well respected wine consultant who has guided a majority of Montalcino wine estates for many decades. Solaria has recently made big investments in renewing the barrels, opting for larger sized ones and doing away with practically all of their barriques. I found Solaria’s 2015 Brunellos to be successful, especially the selezione; this cannot be a surprise, as the estate is located in a cool area of the denomination with plenty of water reserves, and so the wines usually turn out especially well in warmer years, like 2015. For the same reason, 2018 was a difficult year here, while 2017 proved outstanding.