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December 12, 2024
Lengthy earlier than ‘quiet luxurious’ was a buzzword, and lengthy after will probably be, Brunello Cucinelli outlined this philosophy, which extends past attire and equipment to a way of life. The model’s “Casa Cucinelli” idea, which rolled out beginning in 2021, supplies a extra profound bodily manifestation of that way of life past its a number of international retail places.
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Cucinelli’s Castello di Solomeo 2018 classic wine, which debuted in 2023, rounds out its luxurious lifestyle in a fashion most style labels might solely dream about. For the 2019 classic, Casa Cucinelli hosted New York media for an unique, personal dinner sans social media and official pictures to style each wines. The 2019 model bowed in Italy final month throughout a La Paulée-inspired celebration.
Held at 689 Fifth Avenue, the second-floor personal purchasing area exudes the IYKYK as purchasing appointments normally happen on an invite-only, one-on-one foundation for VICs (essential purchasers). Absolutely decked out to resemble a spacious Manhattan loft-style residence, company mingled within the area’s kitchen, sipping $200-a-bottle Krug champagne.
Hosted by Massimo Carrone, Brunello Cucinelli, president and CEO of North America, and Patrick O’ Connor, CEO of Fantastic+Uncommon Group, a global market for prestigious wine cellars, distinguished cellars, and famend producers, the intimate 26-guest dinner—which featured conventional antipasti, Cacio and Pepe pasta, Beef Tagliata, Tiramisu and Castello di Solomeo olive oil— kicked off with a recap of the model’s inaugural wine celebration, Cucinelli’s ‘Davos of wine,’ that took its inspiration from the normal French post-harvest Burgundy celebration.
That occasion, which happened over two days and featured seven winemakers, together with Krug and Castello di Solomeo, hosted about 200 attendees who skilled wine tastings, Italian craftsmanship, and Renaissance-inspired leisure within the quaint hamlet of Solomeo, which Cucinelli started reviving in 1982 when he purchased its 14th-century citadel.
Right here, collectors of wine and the manufacturers VICs convened (and infrequently overlapped or transformed to both wine collectors or luxurious cashmere collectors) to get a primary style of the 2019 classic Castello di Solomeo whereas evaluating it to the debut 2018 model. The wine is a mix of 4 grapes: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and, for native flare, Sangiovese. (One wine critic quipped that it was much like a ‘Tuscan Tremendous Purple’, however extra precisely, as a consequence of area, it could be an ‘Umbrian Tremendous Purple’.)
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As an organization spokesperson walked the company by way of the wine, they credited 2018 with being “a strong wine, not shy, it’s dangerous. It has beautiful tannins and freshness and a softer, smoother, silk, velvety character with notes of ripe dark cherry, very generous and spicy hints, black pepper, nutmeg, balsamic hints, and Bay leaf with 14.5 percent alcohol.”
Having aged 16 months in new French oak barrels plus 4 years in a bottle, the wine already had a extra mature style than the brand new classic which they described as “small forest fruit, blueberry, blackberry, and spicy hints with fresh balsamic notes. It’s very classy and elegant. It’s a wine at the beginning of its evolutionary path with strong legs to last decades.”
The consultant additionally drew a line between wine making and style with each engaged on a number of seasons directly; creating one whereas debuting one other.
Very similar to the style model, it is extremely unique. With vines planted in 2011 in concentric undulating rows, the 12 acres of vines would produce a most of 20,000 bottles yearly, however the model plans to not exceed half of that quantity, following a ‘much less is extra’ philosophy. In accordance with the spokesperson, the 2018 classic produced simply 7,000 bottles. Thus, this complimentary model extension will not be a enterprise extension however a deeply private venture for the Cucinelli household, whose roots within the area hint again to peasant farmers with an in depth connection to the land.
When you will not discover it in your native wine retailer, O’Connor and his staff are the conduits to a choose variety of bottles turning into part of esteemed wine collectors’ personal cellars.
Presumably, VICs could get a style every now and then on the numerous Casa Cucinelli places globally.At the moment, there are ten international places of the personal purchasing idea, with two extra Casa Cucinelli’s set to debut in 2025, one in Los Angeles and one other in Rome, additional increasing the theater wherein Cucinelli expresses its understated but uber luxe imaginative and prescient.
