Winemaker Notes
Ideal as an aperitif, Suavia Soave Classico matches well with a wide array of dishes, from hors d'oeuvres and fresh fish to white meats and young cheeses. It is equally well-suited to summer nights in the back yard with friends or family.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Baked apples and lush flowers combine on the nose in a prelude to what is to come on the palate. Hints of succulent stone fruit emerge, only to be met with a bracing acidity and a minerally backbone that leaves the mouth watering for more. Textured and complex, this wine is a delicious dance of contrasts. Winebow Imports.
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James Suckling
Stone fruits and white pepper-laced acidity. Lovely depth. Mid-weighted, highly versatile and saline across a long, succulent finish. Screw cap punctuates the precision.
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Vinous
The 2022 Soave Classico entices with a blend of lime-tinged apples, chamomile and sea spray. This opens with lovely inner sweetness contrasted by crisp orchard fruits and citrus zest, all propelled by juicy acidity.
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Wine Spectator
This bright white is minerally on the nose, with lively acidity driving the well-meshed range of Honeycrisp apple and melon fruit. Shows aromatic accents of honeysuckle, clove and graphite. Drink now. 13,000 cases made, 6,000 cases imported.
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.