Winemaker Notes
Pale straw yellow, with greenish reflections when young but olden with ageing. The aroma is fresh, flowery with aromas of elder, lemon and cherry. The palate is dry, well balanced and elegant, with tremendous length and finesse.
It makes an excellent aperitif and partners a wide range of dishes, especially vegetable quiches, delicately-flavored fish, shellfish and cheese soufflés.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
The nose alone is worth finding a bottle, redolent with wildflowers, almonds, peaches and acacia honey. The sumptuous and expansive palate shows ripe apples, dried flowers and focused minerality that continues long after you drink the wine. Crisp acidity holds the wine in balance and will allow for long cellaring. Drink now–2035.
Cellar Selection -
James Suckling
The 50th anniversary vintage. The first single vineyard white wine of Italy. Tuffeau and basalt. Calvarino is fermented in cement rather than the tank, as is used for the Classico. A broader sash of orchard fruits, verging toward toffee apple, mingle with ginger, orange blossom, rosemary, sage, almond and jasmine. 20-30% Trebbiano di Soave due to its affinity with volcanic soils. Saline and sappy, whilst also resinous and intense. A powerful wine that is paradoxically pixelated of detail, immensely saline and beautifully light on its feet. The sort of wine I challenge anyone not to love.
-
Wine Spectator
There's a broad feel to this layered white, yet well-honed acidity keeps this bright and graceful throughout, framing flavors of creamed pear, fleur de sel, macadamia, lemon curd and stony mineral. Long and focused on the finish.
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.