wUnderstated and coy, With swirling the wine releases dried strawberry and rose nuances and hints of cedary spice. Its silky textures soothe, contrasted by tart red and black wild berries, savory herbs and brisk, almost salty acids. Structured, concentrated and sapid, there’s simply so much going on here, yet all the while this remains wonderfully harmonious. This reminds me more of a young Brunello than a Rosso. Short-term cellaring should help unlock further aromatic depths, at which point the 2019 will be the total package
While winemaker Patrizia Cencioni’s family roots reach back decades in Montalcino, this is not your typical tale of wine-stained generations, each planting vines and learning from the next. Patrizia wanted to make Brunello wines; thus, she bought a crumbling property on the southeast flanks of Montalcino in 1989—not far from the lauded Casanova di Neri—and set to doing things her way. Thirty years later, Solaria is a shining example of how hard work and dedication can make a modest family farm into a rising star of this world-famous appellation. Sitting on a perfect plateau some 1,050 feet in altitude, Solaria benefits from a particular microclimate that moderates the more Mediterranean heat of this side of Montalcino.