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VULCANIA SOAVE 2012 and more (4)
* Please read all the previous and next articles about VULCANIA SOAVE 2012, about the SOAVE and the COLLI EUGANEI regions *
DISCOVER THE REAL POWER OF SOAVE
Well, being honest, I have to confess that I tasted many Soave in the past decades, which were all ‘drinkable’ but rarely really enjoyable for a wine lover. There is indeed a huge bulk of ‘honest’ but unappealing wimpy Soave on the market, especially in the supermarkets. Those wines are made for the less demanding consumers, more interested in booze volume for a low price than for a representative wine with an own character and story to tell. If you like it, please go on and enjoy it. The choice is huge…
I wonder why most wine producers in this region are producing ‘Soave’ wine if it is not better and more characteristic than an IGP Veneto (some of the latest are even much better and more expensive)… This is downgrading the image of Soave and globalizing the offer.
I rather prefer wines from the very heart and cradle of the Soave region, wines from the hills; wines from basalt and calcareous ground, where the vineyards grow directly on the strata and ‘organ pipes’, not on weathered residues of it. I want to drink wines made by passionate people, working harder in the vineyards than in the cellars, using more environment and terroir respectful methods; human scale wines from smaller independent wineries from the Soave Classico region. And yes, this is for me the REAL SOAVE, the potential of a great terroir, combined with the right traditional grapes and a lot of hard work, understanding, patience and courage.
Soave Volcanic hills landscape – © Consorzio
I am proud to recommend you a young organization called SOAVE CRU Terra Viva, under leadership of SANDRO GINI. A club of sixteen small producers with the same holy wish: giving the SOAVE wines from the Classico and Colli Scaligeri regions the noble image they do deserve.
The wines from this SOAVE CRU association are all made by small producers from the very best vineyards, focusing on single vineyards and specific top-terroirs (47 ‘crus’ at the moment). Their goal is to use only viticulture methods with no or very low impact on both men and the environment and reduce the use of vinification additives to a strict minimum. They want to break with the selfish and old-fashioned lack of transparency and trust between the wine producers. They want to learn, to share, to promote and celebrate together, like in a solid and open group. The wines recognized as SOAVE ‘CRU’ will all wear a special logo on every bottle, a logo picturing the gentle hills of Soave.
The actual members of the SOAVE CRU association:
| ANTONIO FRANCHETTO | BALESTRI VALDA |
| CORTE ADAMI | CORTE MAINENTE |
| CORTE MOSCHINA | EL VEGRO |
| GINI SANDRO & CLAUDIO | LE MANDOLARE |
| MONTETONDO | PORTINARI UMBERTO & MARIA |
| FATTORI GIOVANNI | TENUTA DI CORTE GIACOBBE ‘DAL CERO’ |
| SOLAR DI BOLLA EGIDIO | TERRE DEI MONTI |
| VICENTINI EMANUELE & AGOSTINO | VILLA CANESTRATI |
More information about the SOAVE CRU project can be found on the Consorzio website and of course (in Italian only) on the website of the SOAVE CRU association.
SOAVE ‘CRU’ TASTING
On the first day of our stay in SOAVE, we visited two members of SOAVE ‘CRU’ association. We had a short stop and tasting at the BALESTRI VALDA winery (nice SENGIALTA!) and than a long one at the iconic winery MONTETONDO… This winery is still using the Rhine bottles for their Soave wines, quite nice actually! I liked the MONTE TONDO SOAVE CLASSICO 2011, may be less typical than other vintages, with more tropical fruit and less citrus, quite complex and round, with a nice minerality. I loved the CASETTE FOSCARIN SOAVE CLASSICO 2009, quite mineral, very fruity (exotic) with a hint of dried fruits and a kiss of the oak, very juicy, with a nice and long mineral finish. I loved as well the FOSCARIN SLAVINUS SOAVE CLASSICO SUPERIORE DOCG, declined in 3 vintages! The 2009 promises a lot for the future, but is now quite tense. The 2003 was pretty much alive, lovely smooth and still fresh, very charming, with a long and warm finish. The 2006 was my favorite of that moment, a great wine with a strong minerality, fantastic balance, full taste, smooth and refreshing, and a very long finish.
In the same evening, we met the SOAVE CRU partner wineries during a meet, greet, taste, eat and enjoy dinner under the ‘pergolato coperto’ in the magnificent park of the RISTORANTE TREGNAGO (Montecchia di Crosara). The meal was excellent and the service absolutely outstanding!
On the wine list we got from the organization, there were only 20, but I did taste 22 wines…??? I won’t bother you this time with boring tasting notes, there was not even one bad or even average wine in the whole tasting. All wines had their own characteristics and charms…
(no*: wimpy wine, * nice wine, recommended, ** good wine with character, *** good wine with character and complexity, **** very good wine, ***** outstanding wine)
| FRANCHETTO | LA CAPELINA Soave | 2011 | ** |
| CORTE MOSCHINA | RONCATHE Soave | 2011 | ** |
| CORTE GIACOBBE | CORTE GIACOBBE Soave | 2011 | ** |
| FATTORI | DANIELI Soave | 2011 | ** |
| CORTE MAINENTE | TOVO AL PIENO Soave Classico | 2011 | **(*) |
| FATTORI | MOTTO PIANE Soave | 2011 | **(*) |
| TERRE DEI MONTI | Soave Classico | 2011 | **(*) |
| LE CASELLE | Soave Classico | 2011? | **(*) |
| LE MANDOLARE | MONTE SELLA Soave | 2009 | **(*) |
| TENUTA SOLAR | EL RE Recioto di Soave | 2008 | *** |
| CORTE MAINENTE | LUNA NOVA Recioto di Soave | 2010 | *** |
| VICENTINI | Recioto di Soave | 2007 | *** |
| CORTE MOSCHINA | I TARAI Soave | 2009 | *** |
| PORTINARI | RONCHETTO Soave | 2011 | *** |
| VICENTINI | IL CASALE Soave Cru | 2010 | ***(*) |
| VICENTINI | Recioto di Soave | 2009 | ***(*) |
| TERRE DEI MONTI | L’EREDITA Recioto di Soave | 2008 | **** |
| CORTE GIACOBBE | VIGNETO RUNCATA Superiore | 2009 | **** |
| CORTE MOSCHINA | INCANTO Recioto di Soave | 2007 | **** |
| GINI | LA FROSCA Classico | 2010 | **** |
| GINI | CONTRADA SALVARENZA Classico | 2005 | **** |
| GINI | CONTRADA SALVARENZA Classico | 2009 | ****(*) |
The next day, we brought a visit to the vineyards of GUERRIERI RIZZARDI in Costeggiola (a perfect trip for the view but quite steep for a morning walk) the SUAVIA winery in Fittà. After a second – pffffffff – even more killing steep walk (down was quite OK but up on the way back was quite demanding for untrained alpinists like some of us… grin) we were ‘parked’ in a much too small tasting room at the winery. We tasted quickly 2 wines:
MASSI FITTI Trebbiano 2009: definitely not my style of wine, overdone, too much cellar, too little terroir. May be promising for the next decade, the vineyards are now much too young (6 y.o.?).
MONTE CARBONARE 2010: much more what I like in wine… fresh fruity and floral aromas. Very elegant minerality, great work on the lees, you smell it, and you taste it… even though not from a typical vintage, very pleasant wine with a lovely mineral finish.
* Please read all the previous and next articles about VULCANIA SOAVE 2012, about the SOAVE and the COLLI EUGANEI regions *
