Winemaker Notes
Pair with white meat dishes, flavourful fish, seafood, shellfish, fresh water shrimps.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
If Sandro Gini’s exquisite wines are not better known, it might have something to do with his self-effacing modesty, or perhaps with the generally low expectations that the outside world holds of Soave. The Contrada Salvarenza Vecchie Vigne is anything but the stereotypical simple, light, dry summer wine. Gini’s family has owned the Salvarenza vineyard since 1852. The average age of the vines, around a third of which pre-date phylloxera, is around 100 years, give or take a decade. Gini attended oenological school but says that when he started making wine he had to unlearn much of what he had been taught. For example, he has completely eliminated the use of sulphites during vinification. The grapes for the Salvarenza, 100% Garganega, are picked at full ripeness and fermented in barrels of varying capacities, where the wine remains for 12 months. It is cellared for another year before release and will continue to develop for at least another decade. Starts subdued but opens with amazing assurance to a fantail of aromas from lime and lemon to dandelion, hawthorn and beeswax and a fascinating note of smoky tea leaf. Irresistibly drinkable but with an amazing depth of flavours and long, flinty finish.
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James Suckling
This always has an old vine character with so much dried fruit and puree apple character. Full body, dense and layered. Phenolic texture gives it form and texture. More full throttle style.
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Wine Enthusiast
Elegant and savory, this vibrant white offers enticing Spanish broom, yellow stone fruit, wet stone and crushed thyme aromas. The vibrant, ethereal palate carries subtle, tantalizing layers of yellow peach, tangy tangerine, lemon drop and pineapple with lively acidity. A graphite note closes the lingering finish. Too elegant for some palates, it shows impressive balance and depth, despite the cool, wet vintage.
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.