Your cellar, your trips, and the wines you've been tracking are right where you left them.
New here?
Free, always. Education first, we'll never sell you anything you didn't ask to see.
Already have an account?
Enter the email you signed up with and we'll send a link to choose a new password.
Case Basse
Gianfranco Soldera's Riserva from Case Basse, southwest of Montalcino. Pure Sangiovese, fermented with its own yeasts and aged for years in big Slavonian oak casks. Floral, silky and very long. The 2001 and a 2004 magnum are sold by one London shop.
Black FridayNo checked saving on this wine today. See 2 checked deals on Brunello di Montalcino
We track 1 UK retailer across all vintages and formats, including out-of-stock offers. Prices read several times a week. We earn a commission on some links; it never changes the order.
One shop on this page sells this wine, so there is no price to compare between shops. Each price is the one we last read on its page, on the date beside it.
No current retailer offer matches that combination.
Stock status is read from each retailer’s page several times a week and may lag.
Soldera's Riserva ferments with the vineyard's own yeasts in big Slavonian oak vats, then rests for years in large casks 14 metres underground. The 2001 shows only 13% alcohol on the label. Expect dried rose, leather, sour cherry and mint, with silky tannin and a very long finish.
Dried rose, leather and tobacco first, then sour cherry and a cool lift of mint. The 2001, Gianfranco Soldera's most admired Riserva, opens with what Antonio Galloni (Vinous, 100 points) calls 'an exotic mélange of dark-toned fruit, lavender, sage and menthol'. The scent keeps changing in the glass, a mark of these slow, cask-aged wines from Case Basse.
Orange peel
Rose petal
Cherry
Mint
Tobacco
Forest Floor
Leather
LiquoriceMedium-bodied and silky, with only 13% alcohol on the 2001 label. The acidity is bright and the tannin is fine and soft. That comes from a natural fermentation with the vineyard's own yeasts in big Slavonian oak vats, then years of rest in large casks. Sour cherry, blood orange and liquorice run through it. The 2004 is just as deep but more delicate.
Very long and resonant, closing on orange peel, liquorice and a faint earthy note. The 2001 keeps building to the end, the sign of a Riserva still on the way up after more than twenty years.
This is the top of Soldera's range, and the 2006 was the last wine he labelled Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. Case Basse makes about 15,000 bottles a year on average, so every Riserva is scarce. Drinkers consistently praise its soft tannin, balance and length. Open the 2001 or the 2004 between now and 2043, for a dinner that deserves it.
The 2001 in a standard bottle and the 2004 in a magnum are sold by Hedonism in London, so there is no price to compare between shops. The 2006 is listed there but out of stock. The magnum price is for 150 cl, two bottles' worth, and both prices include UK duty and VAT.
Occasion and Cellar are its strongest cards: a 100-point Riserva from an estate that stopped making Brunello after 2006, with a drinking window that runs to 2043. It also scores well for food, thanks to bright acidity and soft tannin.
Two 100-point vintages from an estate that stopped making Brunello after 2006. For a landmark birthday or an anniversary dinner, few Italian wines carry more weight.
The 2001 and 2004 have drinking windows to 2043 and the 2001 is still improving. Soldera's Riserva has a record of ageing for decades in a cool cellar.
Bright acidity and fine, soft tannin make this a roast-meat wine: lamb, beef, pheasant and truffle pasta all work. Only chilli heat and raw fish fight it.
At about £1,950 a bottle the 2001 costs many times what a Brunello Riserva usually sells for in the UK (about £115 on this site). You pay for scarcity and two perfect scores, not for value at the table.
A twenty-year-old Riserva with delicate, evolved flavours and a collector's price is not a first Brunello. Start with a young Rosso di Montalcino from a good estate instead.
A bottle this rare and this expensive is opened a few times in a lifetime, not on a Tuesday.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Brunello di Montalcino denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
Montalcino's own vintage chart gives 2001 four stars and both 2004 and 2006 five. Antonio Galloni (Vinous) scored the 2001 and 2004 Riserva 100 points each in May 2023 and the 2006 97, all with a drinking window of 2023 to 2043. The 2006 was the last Soldera vintage sold as Brunello.
Five stars in Montalcino's own vintage chart. It is also the last Soldera vintage sold as Brunello di Montalcino Riserva; from 2013 the estate's wine carries the Toscana IGT label. Antonio Galloni (Vinous) scored it 97 in May 2023 and gives a window of 2023 to 2043.
Five stars in Montalcino's own vintage chart, a year of concentration and long life. Antonio Galloni (Vinous) scored the 2004 Riserva 100 in May 2023 and suggests drinking it from 2023 to 2043. He calls it 'the twin sibling of the 2001, except that the power of the earlier vintage is expressed as total finesse here'.
Four stars out of five in Montalcino's own vintage chart. At Case Basse the 2001 is one of the estate's most admired wines: Antonio Galloni (Vinous) gave it 100 points in May 2023 with a drinking window of 2023 to 2043.
Four stars out of five in Montalcino's own vintage chart. At Case Basse the 2001 is one of the estate's most admired wines: Antonio Galloni (Vinous) gave it 100 points in May 2023 with a drinking window of 2023 to 2043.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Brunello di Montalcino must be 100% Sangiovese grown around the town of Montalcino. A Riserva cannot be sold before 1 January of the sixth year after the harvest, with at least two years in wood and six months in bottle. Soldera's Riserva rested in large casks for years, well beyond that minimum, before release.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Brunello di Montalcino is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Brunello di Montalcino falls within Tuscany, covering Comune di Montalcino, Toscana.
Wine route
Half a day to a full day · 4 stops
Open the driveProducer: Case Basse, Montalcino.
Wine route in the zone: Brunello and Rosso loop.
Case Basse works its ten hectares of Sangiovese by hand and sorts every berry. The estate averages about 15,000 bottles a year and cuts that sharply in a poor year, so each Riserva bottle is rare.
The wine ferments with its own yeasts in big oak vats, then rests for years in large casks before bottling in the cellar; the 1983 Riserva spent 66 months in wood. Money sits in the cellar for at least five years before a Riserva bottle can be sold.
Antonio Galloni (Vinous) gave both the 2001 and the 2004 Riserva 100 points in May 2023. Perfect scores on a wine no longer made as Brunello push collector demand, and the price, up.
A former employee opened the taps on the casks and about three quarters of six vintages drained away. Soldera's wines sold in 2013 saw substantial price rises, and the loss made a rare wine rarer still.
Of the £1,950 the 2001 costs, about £328 is tax: £2.99 duty on a 75 cl bottle at 13% alcohol (GBP 30.62 per litre of pure alcohol) and £325 VAT.
At 13% alcohol with fine, soft tannin and lively acidity, Soldera's Riserva wants simple roast meat rather than heavy sauces. Roast lamb, a Florentine T-bone and roast pheasant let its dried rose and leather notes show. Truffle pasta picks up the earthy side.
Brunello's bright acidity cuts through the fat of roast lamb and beef, and the mint note in Soldera's Riserva meets the mint sauce head on. A mature Brunello di Montalcino like this one, with its soft tannin, does not fight the meat; it refreshes each bite.
Try with: Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce · Sunday Roast Beef · Roast Pheasant · Venison Stew · More pairings →
Even after twenty years, Soldera's Riserva keeps fine tannin that grips the protein in a rare T-bone and turns soft. Its savoury leather and tobacco notes sit next to the char of the grill. Brunello di Montalcino, a full-flavoured Tuscan Sangiovese, is the classic match for a Fiorentina.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Brasato al Barolo · Ossobuco alla Milanese · Agnello Cacio e Ova · More pairings →
The earthy, forest-floor side of a twenty-year-old Soldera Riserva echoes truffle and dried porcini. Its acidity lifts the butter and cheese in a risotto. Brunello di Montalcino, a mature and savoury Sangiovese, is the Tuscan answer to a truffle dish.
Try with: Tagliatelle al tartufo di Acqualagna · Porcini mushroom risotto · Truffle risotto · Tajarin al Tartufo · More pairings →
Salty, aged cheese tames what tannin is left in the Riserva and brings out its dried-fruit sweetness. Keep the cheese hard and nutty; a strong blue would bury an old Sangiovese. Brunello di Montalcino is a dry Tuscan red that loves aged pecorino.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Frico · Strong cheddar cheese · Cheese board
At 13% alcohol Soldera's Riserva is medium-bodied, so it suits roasted and slow-cooked meats better than the heaviest dishes. The rosemary and fennel in porchetta meet its sage and mint notes. Brunello di Montalcino, a mature Sangiovese with soft tannin, is a wine for the whole table.
Try with: Porchetta · Coniglio alla ligure · Spezzatino di pecora · Arrosticini · More pairings →
Chilli heat makes an old Sangiovese taste thin and hot, raw fish turns its tannin metallic, and sweet or sour sauces flatten the fruit. Save Soldera's Riserva for plain roast meat; open a chilled Lambrusco or a dry Prosecco with the curry instead.
Skip with: Chicken madras · Pizza Diavola · Oysters · Green curry · Sashimi · Pairing guide →
Antonio Galloni (Vinous) gives the 2001, 2004 and 2006 Riserva a drinking window of 2023 to 2043, and the 2001 is still improving. At Case Basse the wine matures 14 metres underground at a steady 13 degrees and 85% humidity. Copy that: cool, dark, still, and lying down.
For the main offer above.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Aim for the cooler end on a warm day; warmer end opens up more aromatics.
The 2001 and 2004 have drinking windows to 2043 and the 2001 is still improving. Soldera's Riserva has a record of ageing for decades in a cool cellar.
£1,950.00 for a 75cl bottle of the 2001, at Hedonism Wines, is the best price we track, and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Last refresh: 6 Nov 2026, 04:52 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic. Drinkers score it 4.7 out of 5 from 5,695 ratings on Vivino.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, from how this wine is made, UK duty and VAT and the price shops charge for it today. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumThe drinking years for the main offer apply to its 2001 vintage. Treat them as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumIt is the top wine of Gianfranco Soldera's Case Basse estate in southwest Montalcino, made only from the estate's own Sangiovese. The grapes are picked by hand and sorted berry by berry. The wine ferments with its own yeasts in big Slavonian oak vats and rests for years in large casks, in a cellar 14 metres underground. Soldera made Brunello from the 1977 vintage until 2006, with a Riserva in some years, and about 15,000 bottles a year on average.
The 2001 costs about £1,950 a bottle. Both are sold by Hedonism in London, so there is no price to compare between shops. The 2006 is listed but out of stock. Prices include UK duty and VAT.
Because from 2013, starting with the 2006 wine, the estate chose to label its wine Toscana IGT instead of Brunello di Montalcino. The estate calls this a commercial decision based on the wine's own identity. It came after December 2012, when a former employee opened the taps on the casks holding the 2007 to 2012 vintages and most of six years' wine was lost.
Both are drinking well now and should keep until about 2043. Antonio Galloni (Vinous) gave each 100 points in May 2023 with a window of 2023 to 2043, and the 2006 Riserva (97 points) the same window. Store the bottles on their side at a steady 13 degrees, like the estate's own cellar.
Simple roast meat: leg of lamb, a Florentine T-bone steak or roast pheasant. The wine's bright acidity and soft tannin suit meat that is not covered in sauce. Truffle pasta and aged pecorino also work with its earthy, leathery notes. Avoid chilli heat, raw fish and sweet sauces, which flatten an old Sangiovese.
9 retailers
Brunello di Montalcino
9 retailers
£173.00
+ delivery
8 retailers
Brunello di Montalcino
8 retailers
£515.00
+ delivery
8 retailers
Brunello di Montalcino
8 retailers
£58.00
+ delivery
7 retailers
Brunello di Montalcino
7 retailers
£280.10
+ delivery
Affiliate disclosure. Some links above are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Editorial coverage, ratings and tasting notes are written independently and a retailer cannot pay to be listed or to be ranked higher.
How retailer prices are sourced.
Prices and stock are read from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Outbound buy links carry rel="nofollow sponsored noopener". The list is sorted by price; we do not accept payment for placement.
What we will never do. Imply we tasted a bottle when we didn’t. Imply stock when a retailer is out. Imply independence on links that are paid affiliate links.
DOCG
checked 
