Montalcino legend Soldera dies

Gianfranco Soldera, owner of the famous Case Basse winery in Brunello di Montalcino has died aged 82.

The winemaker reportedly suffered a heart attack while driving on 16 February and attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

Born in Treviso in 1937 he initially worked as an insurance broker but he founded his winery in 1972, planting all his own vineyards.

From the beginning he strove to work as naturally and traditionally as possible. He was famed for his wines and for his strong opinions. He was completely unafraid of calling out producers he felt were not doing justice to Brunello and was an outright advocate of Sangiovese.

This brought him a devoted legion of fans and a reputation as one of Brunello’s foremost winemakers but his occasionally abrasive attitude did not always go down well with others.

In 2012 a former employee broke into the winery and opened the taps on several botti, draining the equivalent of 6,000 cases of wine from the 2007 to 2012 vintages worth several million euro.

The perpetrator, Andrea Di Gisi, was caught and jailed. The consorzio rallied round and offered Gianfranco some wine from several producers for him to sell but he dismissed the offer as dishonest and soon afterwards quit the consorzio to make his wines under the Tuscan IGP classification.

Despite the fallout, Case Basse continues to be a highly sought-after label among lovers of fine Italian wine.

Soldera is survived by his wife, two children and grandchildren.