Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Always one of Italy's premier white wines, Pieropan's gorgeous 2015 Calvarino sets a new benchmark. Opening with heady aromas of white spring wildflower, citrus blossom, aromatic herb and crushed rock, the savory palate delivers layers of lemon drop, ripe apple, juicy pear and tangy mineral notes. It's concentrated yet elegant and thoroughly delicious. Drink through 2025.
Cellar Selection -
Decanter
A blend of Garganaga and Trebbiano di Soave, this delivers more stone fruit and less spice than the regular Soave Classico. Nonetheless, it still has gossamer elegance and invigorating freshness. A substantial wine that cries out for chicken in a creamy sauce.
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James Suckling
Plenty of honey and cream with hints of apricot and lemon. Medium to full body, fresh acidity and a long and flavorful finish. Steely and pretty at the end. Petrol undertone. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a warm and sunny vintage, the 2015 Soave Classico Calvarino shows extra fruit density with creamy notes of apricot, citrus and peach. Those characteristic mineral notes from the areas's volcanic soils are really what set this wine apart. The Calvarino is aged in cement vats lined with glass tiles for 15 months. Some 55,000 bottles were released.
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.