Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wow. This is a great white with incredible definition and transparency. Sliced white peach, pear and apple aromas and flavors. Full body, focused and persistent. Goes on for minutes.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale golden-tinged straw color. Perfumed nose hints at delicate white flowers, white peach and minerals. Still youthfully closed in the mouth, but with a fine-grained texture and a seductive sweetness to the crisp, bright and very saline flavors of nectarine and lime leaf. Turns increasingly mineral and lemony on the long finish, thanks to laser-like acidity. Really speaks of volcanic soils.
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Wine Spectator
An elegant white, framed by bright, finely tuned acidity and underscored by a racy streak of mineral. Offers a pleasing mix of yellow plum and apricot fruit, with pickled ginger and spring blossom notes. Lingering 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.