Winemaker Notes
#70 of Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2020
Straw yellow with considerable intensity and brilliant highlights. This wine is creamy and elegant. It is characterized by freshness and aromas of citrus, herbs, and mineral. On the palate the wine is well-balanced and refreshing with a dry and persistent finish.
Best served with delicate fish-based dishes, truffle or mushroom risottos, and medium flavored cheeses as well as a variety of vegetarian dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Crystal-clear purity to this Soave, which shows flint, sliced lemons, chamomile and petrichor. Edgy and vertical on the palate, but flavorful and citrusy. Very mineral and precise. Long on the finish. Drink now.
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Decanter
A black, pure volcanic soil hosts the vineyards of this Soave. It's a white wine full of smoky minerality blended with stone-fruit flavours on a vibrant palate, with the typical delicacy of Garganega’s acidity. It’s interesting to also taste the Massifitti 2016, which is the rediscovery of Trebbiano di Soave by the estate, producing a tingling wine of great chalky minerality.
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Wine Spectator
Svelte and finely knit, this vivid white is driven by both its minerally underpinning and its rapierlike acidic frame, components well-meshed with the pleasing range of pink grapefruit sorbet, nectarine and grated ginger notes, plus a touch of almond skin that imparts a light, tactile sensation to the racy 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.