Amongst food writers and bloggers who critique $600 perfume – my God, what an age we live in – the phrase “liquid cashmere” is one that occasionally finds its way onto the page. Yet there’s never been a more apt instance in which to invoke such flowery language than whilst discussing Brunello Cucinelli – designer, businessman, philanthropist, and now (unsurprisingly)… winemaker.
Colloquially referred to as Italy’s “King of Cashmere” – we can imagine the Loro Pianas probably have a thing or two to say about that – Cucinelli has been synonymous with what industry types call fashion “guided by new humanism” for over a decade.
As famous for his conservational and charitable endeavours as he is $5,000 shawl cardigans, there are few testaments to Cucinelli’s belief in “humanistic capitalism” (i.e. the idea that a company can turn a healthy profit, whilst maintaining its employees’ dignity and a moral centre of gravity) more compelling than Solomeo – the medieval township near Assisi, which he and his family have laboured to restore since the 1990s.
Over the years, the Cucinellis have revitalised the village (and the surrounding area in Umbria) with the construction of a theatre, libraries, a public park and in their most recent move to “cultivate [the] land according to nature” a vineyard – fittingly christened Castello del Solomeo.
Far from the sort of hollow PR stunt we’re used to seeing within fast fashion, Castello del Solomeo is a fully functioning part of the Brunello Cucinelli universe that has been 11 years in the making. With a total of 15 acres under vine – each third dedicated to its own particular terroir – the estate yielded its first vintage in 2018: a blended red wine, crafted in the classic claret style, from Merlot; Cabernet Franc; and Cabernet Sauvignon.
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At present, no info is available publicly about which global retailers – let alone within Australia – will receive allocations when the Rosso de Castello de Solomeo launches next year, but you can bet your best Plumm glass that tracking down a case won’t be easy (according to a statement by Cucinelli spokespeople, initial production numbers will be capped at 9,000 bottles per year).
That said, all early signs point to an experiment that could very well lay the groundwork for a new avenue of industry in Solomeo. In the past, Brunello Cucinelli has made a number of well-received, commercially viable lifestyle products – including, of course, wine accessories – and the practices which inform viticulture at Castello del Solomeo (e.g. the wave-like arrangement used to plant grapes, as pictured above) suggest that, at the very least, Signore Cucinelli himself wants his brand’s connection with the Earth to go beyond noble fibres.
