Anyone who only knows Soave from the pizzeria around the corner or from the supermarket shelf is unlikely to have a high opinion of this most famous of all Italian white wines. Yet the best wines of the region, which essentially stretches around the towns of Soave and Montforte d'Alpone and from there a few kilometres to the north, are anything but the thin alcoholic beverages with which Soave is so readily associated.
From reduced yields, the volcanic rock soils of the best, often steep and terraced sites produce finely aromatic wines with rather moderate acidity, almondy-nutty tones and aromas of citrus fruits and apples. Their generally bone-dry style makes them excellent food companions that can be used in a variety of ways even when young, but often gain considerably with a certain amount of bottle maturity. The best examples can also mature for eight to ten years without any problems and finally radiate a noblesse that one would perhaps never have expected from a Soave.
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| (Photo: Balestri Valda) |
The best wines certainly come from the central area of the Soave Classico DOC, but excellent and valuable wines are also sometimes produced under the nominally simpler Soave DOC. The most important variety is Garganega, a late-ripening variety that tends to produce high yields. It is important to curb this if the nobler sides of its character are to be brought out. Soave must consist of at least 70 per cent Garganega, but most of the top wines of the zone contain a significantly higher percentage or consist entirely of Garganega. The other original variety of Soave is Trebbiano, a mass-produced grape that generally produces fresh, slender and lively wines. Consequently, the proportion of Trebbiano is always particularly high in most cases when the aim is to produce wines that can be consumed quickly. Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc are also permitted, which are above reproach in terms of quality, but do not necessarily contribute to the typicality of a Soave. Nevertheless, there are always very good examples, especially among the wines with a Chardonnay component.
Soave and Soave Classico are always dry, at best bone dry. In recent times, however, some producers like to leave a few grams of residual sugar in their wines. This may be advantageous for sales success, especially in Germany, where even nominally dry wines usually taste slightly sweet, but it comes at the expense of expression and bite. We also view the tendency to produce wines with ever higher alcohol content with some concern. Even wines with 12.5 percent alcohol by volume can seem relatively full-bodied, which is probably often due to a relatively long lees ageing including regular stirring. With alcohol levels between 14 and 15.5 percent by volume, as we are encountering more and more often, enjoying a bottle of Soave becomes quite a strenuous undertaking. Apparently, sometimes even dried grapes are added, which are normally reserved for Recioto, but such doped Soave is rarely a great pleasure.
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| (Photo: Az. Agr. Prà) |
These grapes are much better off in the Recioto di Soave DOCG. Ideally, Recioto is a first-class, concentrated dessert wine whose sweetness is counterbalanced by the bitter spiciness of the highly ripe Garganega, and which can therefore be perfectly balanced and tremendously animating despite its rather low acidity. Since Recioto di Soave is generally stronger, but less sweet and fruity than, for example, a German High Prädikat, it is much more versatile as an accompaniment to desserts, but is also ideally suited as a meditation wine and is capable of ageing for decades.
To the "BEST OF Soave" (PDF document)
All recently tasted Soave DOC in the wine guide
All recently tasted Soave DOCG in the Wine Guide
All recently tasted Soave Classico DOC in the Wine Guide
All recently tasted Soave Classico DOCG in the Wine Guide