wein.plus
Attention
You are using an old browser that may not function as expected.
For a better, safer browsing experience, please upgrade your browser.

Log in Become a Member

Everyone knows it, but no one drinks it. Anyone who is a supposed wine connoisseur gives the thin, meaningless white from the discount store a wide berth. But beware - Soave can also be different. It does have this lousy reputation because of the huge, plains-produced masses that fill the cheap wine shelves mainly in Germany and Great Britain. On the other hand, it is one of the most beautiful and expressive white wines in Italy when it comes from the hills. So it is definitely worth taking a closer look at this white wine with the beautiful name, which is produced east of Verona.
Sources of figures and pictures: Consorzio di Tutela Soave

Soave shares its fate with the even more famous Prosecco, which also has two faces. As with Prosecco, the top Soaves come from hillside vineyards and are mainly produced by small family wineries. The majority of the vines, however, grow in the fertile lowlands along the Verona-Venice motorway and usually produce characterless, neutral white wines. They are produced by cooperatives, marketed by anonymous bottlers and sold in our supermarkets for less than 2 euros. So it is understandable that many consumers think of cheap wine when they hear the name Soave.

Mass and class

Today, a total of 47 million bottles are sold under the Soave name. Almost 6300 hectares of vineyards - in plains and hills - are cultivated for this purpose. 2870 grape growers, 190 self-marketing wineries, 50 bottlers - these are the people behind the Soave brand.

However, it is made very difficult for consumers to find their way around. Who pays attention to the small print when shopping? Who cares whether it says Soave, Soave Classico, Soave Colli Scaligeri or Soave Superiore on the label and what is hidden behind these designations?

Let's take a closer look: of the 47 million bottles of Soave produced, only twelve million bear the suffix Classico. They come from the core area, defined as early as 1931 and called the Classico zone, which covers around 1500 hectares of vineyards. It is bordered by the towns of Soave and Monteforte d'Alpone in the south and extends as far as Castelcerino and Brognoligo in the north. Most of the famous winegrowers have their vineyards here. However, it would be wrong to think that outside the Classico area there is only flat land and mass wine. It is true that discount wines labelled as Soave DOC come from the plain, but around the Classico area lies another hilly subzone where a number of excellent Soave are produced (see also map).

Sources of figures and images: Consorzio di Tutela Soave

About fifteen years ago, these hills were given the fanciful name Colli Scaligeri. This was intended as a solution for the wines which, according to the production regulations, also had to bear the simple designation Soave DOC and therefore could not distinguish themselves from the cheap wines. In the beginning, this not exactly catchy and for foreign tongues difficult to pronounce additional designation was used by many winegrowers, today it can only be found on just under 100,000 bottles. It was simply not understood by consumers. Most of the wines from the artificially created subzone are therefore now marketed again as Soave DOC - which does not exactly simplify communication. In summary, it can be said that under the name Soave DOC you can get both cheap goods (the vast majority) and top quality - of course at completely different prices.

The production rules prescribe a maximum yield per hectare of 14 tonnes for both Soave Classico DOC and Soave Colli Scaligeri DOC, while 15 tonnes per hectare are permitted for Soave DOC. Although the yields do not differ much on paper, it should be noted that in practice the maximum yield for wines in the hill area is around 10 to 12 tonnes, in some vineyards with older vines even noticeably less.

And what is it about the Superiore? Soave Superiore DOCG was introduced in 2001 and is theoretically at the top of the quality pyramid. However, only 350,000 bottles of these concentrated, higher-alcohol Soave wines are bottled, as the market tends to demand the fresher, more elegant type. It may be produced in the Classico and Colli Scaligeri subzones, but is subject to stricter production regulations: The maximum yield per hectare is 10 tonnes, the minimum alcohol is 12 per cent by volume, and it may only be put on sale from 1 April of the year following the harvest.

Sources of figures and images: Consorzio di Tutela Soave

Not to be forgotten is the Recioto di Soave DOCG, a sweet wine made from dried grapes, which may be produced in the Classico and Colli Scaligeri subzones. For the Recioto, the most beautiful grapes are harvested in a special pre-harvest and carefully laid out on mats or hung on strings to dry. This process, called "appassimento", however, does not only result in the removal of water, but also sets in motion a whole series of microbiological processes that take place on the skin of the grapes and inside the berry. In winter, the grapes are pressed and a slow fermentation process begins. The high concentration of sugar causes problems for the yeasts as it is transformed into alcohol, so that fermentation comes to a halt before all the sugar has fermented (the minimum residual sugar content required is 70g/l).

Recioto di Soave is one of the most famous Italian passito wines. It is all the sadder that its production is declining; only 100,000 bottles are still produced today.

Sources of figures and images: Consorzio di Tutela Soave

Upgrading through recognised sites

The fact that not all Soave is the same has to do not only with the skill and style of the winemaker, but also with the different soil conditions of the appellation. A large proportion of the vines are planted on volcanic, black soils, namely those in the range of hills between Soave and Monteforte d'Alpone and those on the hill of Roncà to the east. The vines near Colognola and in the Illasi valley in the west of the appellation, on the other hand, grow on calcareous soils, a third part in the fertile Po Valley. Inevitably, the wines are very different. The wines from volcanic soils are more mineral and powerful, while the limestone soils produce leaner, finer wines with fruitier aromas.

In order to turn these peculiarities into an added value for the appellation, the different microclimates and soils were researched over a period of a good 20 years and finally 33 large vineyards, so-called "additional geographical units" were worked out. 28 of them are located in the Classico zone, three more in the west in the Illasi valley and near Mezzane, and two in the east of the appellation near Roncà.

The names of these recognised sites, called UGA in Italian (unità geografiche aggiuntive), are: Broia, Brognoligo, Ca'del Vento, Calvarina, Campagnola, Carbonare, Casarsa, Castelcerino, Castellaro, Colombara, Corte Durlo, Costalta, Costalunga, Coste, Costeggiola, Croce, Duello, Fittà, Foscarino, Froscà, Menini, Monte Grande, Paradiso, Pigno, Ponsara, Pressoni, Roncà-Monte Calvarina, Rugate, Sengialta, Tenda, Tremenalto, Volpare, Zoppega. On the interactive map of the consortium, interested Soave lovers can study the individual sites in more detail.

In order for a Soave to carry one of these geographical additions on the label, the grapes used for it must come exclusively from vineyards of the corresponding site and have been vinified separately. Stricter production rules in the form of lower yields per hectare are not prescribed. The additional designations will appear on bottles of the 2019 vintage for the first time. 23 of the total of 33 possible site designations have already been used by vintners for this vintage. According to the consortium, around 3.5 million 2019 Soave wines with site designations have been bottled.

With the introduction of the large vineyards, the Soave from hillside vineyards are to be upgraded. In this way, wine lovers can find out exactly where the wine they are drinking comes from and have the additional opportunity to learn about the effects of the different combinations of soils, altitude and climate.

Sources of figures and images: Consorzio di Tutela Soave

Terroir wine

Soave is rarely an intensely aromatic fruit bomb, but always convinces with subtle notes on the nose, often reminiscent of white flowers, ripe yellow stone fruits and citrus. It is therefore all the more important that the winemaker works cleanly in the cellar: Hygiene, temperature control and reductive ageing are prerequisites for precisely bringing out the subtle differences between the sites.

It can be said that the growing conditions are more decisive for the character of a Soave than the varieties. The grape variety Garganega determines the wine with a minimum share of 70 percent, but up to 30 percent Trebbiano di Soave and Chardonnay may also be used. Trebbiano is indeed very important for many winemakers, as it lends structure and complexity to the more elegant Garganega and at the same time brings good acidity. Despite its positive characteristics, however, the area under cultivation for it has steadily declined in recent years, because it is less productive and more difficult to grow than Garganega. Today, about 6000 hectares are planted with Garganega, 110 hectares with Trebbiano and 216 hectares with Chardonnay.

Sources of figures and images: Consorzio di Tutela Soave

The vines are mainly grown in the traditional Veronese pergola, which had been discredited in the past but is now experiencing a renaissance, especially in times of climate change, because the grapes are not exposed to direct sunlight with this method of cultivation. Today, a good 85 percent of the vines grow in the pergola system again and are cultivated manually. Guyot is found almost exclusively on the plains, where the grapes are harvested mechanically.

Soave named an agricultural heritage site

In November 2018, the vineyards of Soave became the first Italian wine-growing region to be designated as an Agricultural Heritage Site (Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems) by the United Nations Agricultural Organisation. The following aspects were decisive for this: the Veronese pergola method of vine cultivation, the vine terraces secured with dry stone walls, the Recioto production from dried grapes, and the fact that in Soave, despite a small average farm size, viticulture has provided an income for around 2,500 families for 200 years. In fact, the area between Monteforte and Soave has remained largely unchanged for over 100 years.

By the way, wein.plus has been regularly proving for many years that Soave can be a wonderful white wine with its BEST-OF. Click here for the current issue.

Related Magazine Articles

View All
More
More
More
More
More
More
More
More
More
More

EVENTS NEAR YOU

PREMIUM PARTNERS