Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Exhibits good intensity, yet remains sleek, medium-bodied and graceful overall. The saline-tinged underpinning supports flavors of baked yellow peach and toasted hazelnut, with hints of vanilla and oak spice, before returning and echoing on the finish. Drink now through 2025.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The beautiful 2012 Soave Classico La Rocca is 100% Garganega from the estate's best vineyard located just beyond the towering Castello di Soave. La Rocca is aged in oak (both tonneaux and botte grande) for added textural thickness and lingering tones of ash, spice and candied fruit. The results are exceptional and this Soave Classico is one of the standout wines of northern Italy. It promises five years or more of excellent aging potential.
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.