Halfway between Venice and Lake Garda you will find the volcanic hillsides of Soave. Here, the thick-skinned, late-ripening Garganega variety excels. While the autumn mists that roll up the Po Valley might make thinner-skinned grape varieties succumb to mould or vine disease, Garganega toughs it out. It returns intense, mineral white wines that typically display notes of lemon and chamomile, and (with some age) almond and honey.

The story of Pieropan is very much the story of Soave. The Pieropan family began producing wine in the 1890s; in the 1930s, they were the first producer to bottle a wine with the name ‘Soave’ on the label. In the 1970s, at a time when Italy was not well-regarded for its white wines, Pieropan were ‘a beacon of world-class wines’ (Ian d’Agata, vinous.com). In the 1980s, their identity began to coalesce around two single vineyard wines, Calvarino and La Rocca. Calvarino was where it had all begun for them, their first vineyard plot; La Rocca was a relatively recent acquisition, right behind the castle in the town of Soave. Nowadays, according to Ian d’Agata, these two ‘remain among Italy’s twenty-five or so best whites’.

Calvarino means ‘little Calvary’; the name alludes to the difficulty of working this complicated site. The soil here is the characteristic volcanic basalt of the region, and it makes a steelier, unoaked style of wine. La Rocca is on the other great terroir of Soave, a mix of marine limestone and clay. It is richer in style, and is vinified in 500 litre oak barrels. (NT 03/04/24)