Brunello Cucinelli's Wine Revealed In Milan: “Castello Di Solomeo”

An autumn dinner among friends and journalists to taste the olive oil of the new season and the "Castello di Solomeo", the first wine made in the vineyard of the Hamlet of Cashmere and Harmony.

Last night, at the Istituto dei Ciechi in Milan, a friendly dinner was held at the request of Brunello Cucinelli to present the first wine - vintage 2018 - produced in the vineyard of his beloved Umbrian village of Solomeo.

The convivial event was attended not only by family members, but also by lifelong friends and a large representation of those journalists who, over the years, have told the story of the Solomeo-based Fashion House through writings and words of high quality and humanity. In this fascinating journey that has led to the birth of the wine called “Castello di Solomeo”, the internationally renowned oenologist Riccardo Cotarella has been a friendly advisor to Brunello Cucinelli.

Planted in 2011, the vineyard covers an area of 5 hectares (6 in total with the gardens) in which three different types of soil alternate: alluvial clay-sandy, alluvial clay-silt and marly arenaceous, each carefully matched to a specific vine variety. The production capacity stands at about nine thousand bottles per year.

The grapes chosen for "Castello di Solomeo” are Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, from which the prestigious Bordeaux blend is made; the Sangiovese vine is then added as a tribute to the culture and winemaking tradition of Central Italy. From this union comes a wine that is structured and at the same time rich in softness. The more than 20,000 vines that wind along the undulating rows of the Solomeo vineyard are tended daily, with the ultimate goal of ensuring maximum longevity and well-being. An agricultural philosophy "according to nature" that translates into practice the wisdom of the hands, the science of technology and the sensitivity of the human soul. The choice of arranging the rows following a wave pattern makes the vineyard similar to a "garden" that requires periodic and specific manual maintenance and allows the plants, thanks to their exposure, to receive the maximum amount of light whilst favouring aeration.

Furthermore, a very important role is played by the selection and thinning out of the bunches right from the early phenological stages.

This is Brunello Cucinelli's comment:

"Last night, in this place so rich in history and charm as the palace of the Istituto dei Ciechi in the very noble Milan, it was really exciting to savour the first sip of this wine that – at least for me – is very, very special, born from our land and from a work of great care and passion. In our Solomeo, we have allotted five hectares to vines that are cultivated according to the classic principles of viticulture, which I consider a true art; I like to think that our grapes can finally tell their own story of beauty. I believe there is nothing more beautiful than sharing this precious fruit, born out of a long process of care and custody, with lifelong friends and loved ones. Just as it was in ancient Greece, I like to imagine that this wine of ours can gladden the most pleasant symposia of people renewing this most human of rituals. With the work Deipnosophistae, or "dinner-table philosophers", by Athenaeus, after all, it is fine to recall that it was precisely «on the sea the colour of wine that Dionysus brought all that is good for men».