Pieropan Soave Classico Calvarino 2014
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine &
Spirits -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Complex aromas and flavors of stones, mineral, sliced papaya and apple follow through to a medium body, bright acidity and a lively finish. A beauty. Linear and brilliant. Drink now.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Spring wild-flower, yellow stone -ruit, aromatic herb and citrus aromas mark the nose of this radiant white. The dazzling palate doles out yellow peach, golden apple, lemon drop and nectarine zest, alongside crisp acidity that gives it a bright clean finish. A mineral note adds depth.
Editors’ Choice -
Wine & Spirits
Calvarino is exuberant in 2014, bursting with flavors of fresh yellow pear and juicy lemon entwined in a zesty acidity that drives the flavors upward. Thirty percent trebbiano di Soave fleshes out the garganega in this blend, the fruit flavors showing an old-vine (30 to 60 years old) density and concentration. The wine rested on the lees in glass-lined cement tanks for a year, developing creamy and toasty notes that enrich the succulent fruit flavors. A few years in the cellar may bring more complexity, but its sunny character is enticing today.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2014 Pieropan Calvarino Soave Classico is elegant and distinctive. It shows excellent ripeness and richness, but stays energetic to the finish. The wine's complex fruit notes—dried leaves, creamy core fruits, and toasted almonds—are intense and beautiful. Its staying power suggests a pairing with oven-roasted pork tenderloin. Drinks well now. (Tasted: October 10, 2016, San Francisco, CA)
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Soave Classico Calvarino exhibits the tight lines and focused intensity for which this classic wine is known. The bouquet exhibits bright citrus aromas with peach, pear, honey, dried herb and some distant exotic spice. The mouthfeel here is smooth and silky, but the wine also shows power and persistence. The wine's most attractive assets include crisp mineral definition that gives focus and sharpness.
-
Wine Spectator
A sleek and snappy white, presenting a fine marriage of the underlying minerality with flavors of Honeycrisp apple, baked white peach, orchard blossom and ground ginger. Offers a creamy, lingering finish. Drink now through 2021. 392 cases imported.
Other Vintages
2021-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
-
James
Suckling
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling -
Wine &
Spirits - Decanter
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine &
Spirits - Decanter
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling - Decanter
-
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine &
Spirits -
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Spectator
Enclosed by the original town walls and dominated by its medieval fortress, Soave has a peaceful, timeless quality about it. In the heart of the old town is the winery of Leonildo and Teresita Pieropan, which goes back to 1860. The present Leonildo ("Nino")'s grandfather, Leonildo Senior, founded the estate and 'invented' Recioto di Soave, a concentrated dessert wine applying a system similar to Tuscany's governo to the indigenous, white Garganega grape.
Today, the estate's 74 acres under vine include three single vineyards, all within the historical backbone of the Soave appellation (Soave Classico): Calvarino, La Rocca and Le Colombare. Terrain is respectively clayey/basaltic, calcareous/clayey, and clayey/marly/tuffaceous, yielding small crops of highly concentrated Garganega and Trebbiano grapes. The range is crafted by Leonildo himself, whose wine-making genius, constant research and innovative methods have carved a unique niche for these exceptional, extract-full and long-living whites that go far, far beyond their own appellation.
One of Italy’s classic white varieties, Garganega flourishes in the rolling vineyards surrounding the medieval village of Soave and is the dominant variety in the wine from the region, aptly known as, Soave. By law it makes up 70-100% of the blend with the remainder traditionally finished off by Trebbiano di Soave for its crispness. Somm Secret—The best Soave wines, measurably elegant and vibrant, come from the Soave Classico zone, in the center of Soave, where the hills are made of decomposed volcanic and granitic soils.
Among Italy’s classic whites capable of great potential, Soave is named after the medieval village and surrounding hillsides from whence it comes. The original, historical Soave zone, delimited back in 1927, covers the eastern, volcanic hillsides of today's general Soave zone and is called Soave Classico.
Garganega, the indigenous grape responsible for great Soave, produces medium bodied white wines with fine acidity. Typical in the best Soaves are lively flowery and fresh herbal aromas and flavors such as orange zest, peach, melon and marjoram. The best can take some age and in so doing, develop notes of chamomile, marmalade and honey.
By the 1960s and 70s, Soave was enjoying such a glorious global reputation, that its demand forced growers to push beyond the zone's original borders. Expansion led west out of the hills and onto the alluvial plain of the Adige River. This, coupled with an increase in yields and allowance of additional varieties such as Trebbiano, Chardonnay and Pinot blanc, met demand but created a softer, fruit-forward, everyday Soave. Today the broader region can be the source of charming and value driven whites. But those labeled as Soave Classico or in rare cases, as Soave Colli Scaligeri (nearby hillside vineyards abutting the Classico zone), will be the best quality and age-worthy Soaves. These are often 100% Garganega.