Haven't forgot Part 3 of
my “Discovery of Soave”! Don't worry! Still in Soave! Still full with 100%
Garganega! Still really surprised! However, this time to the
out-most. So far, most of my Soaves were in Andante molto mosso or
Andante con moto style. The following one had more of good old bonafide
Allegro con brio style! Wow, quite a lot of screamers today, right! Anyway, ...! For such an experience I did not even have to
leave town! Next to Castello Scaligero on Monte Rocchetta hill in
Soave there is a vineyard of prominence and quality: La Rocca! This
south west facing, chalk and clay dominated vineyard is situated at
200 to 300 m above sea level. Since the late 1970s the Azienda
Vitivinicola Leonildo Pieropan is producing a most of the time very
late picked (end of October ) single cru wine from this distinct
place in Soave. Today Pieropan belongs to the most renowned and well
distributed vintners from Soave. As I've already told you - their
“simlple” Soave Classico 2013 was quite fine. La Rocca 2012 was
downright spectacular. It conveyed what kind of quality can be won
out of the Garganega grape …
The La Rocca had a
surprisingly lush and vibrant deep yellow colour. Especially for such a juvenile
wine. Its nose showed plenty of elegant, not very elaborate, smokey
characteristics, buckets full of dried green herbs and even more
intense ripe fruit scents of cantaloup, lemon (pretty ripe,
including its zest), some elderberry and a few nasal signs of
mangoes. Some relatively shy, in respect of its bold and powerful
character, fragrances of white flowers (maybe some elder,
too) provided the bouquet with a certain nuance of aristocracy and
airyness which I very much enjoyed. The taste of the La Rocca 2012 was dense, enormously beefy - for a Soave wine - and showed a lot of characterful ripe fruit
flavours (however, not overripe or jamy - for that the overall character was far too stern) of mango, cantaloup, lemon
zest as wwell as plenty of typical spicy resinous flavours. The latter were pronounced, but absolutely not
obtrusive. All those mentioned aromas corresponded very well with
some light creaminess, a suavely acid proportion and its own, even
for Soave, herbal spiciness. Its structure was very much interwoven
and balanced. There was a lot of vivacious energy to this wine with a
lot of thrilling vibrato and impressive length. Well, as I wrote Allegro con brio! Surely a rather bold
and powerful wine, not just for Soave standards, however with a great
flow and easy going intellectual stimulus ;-). Close to fantastic.
Perhaps in some years. Right now doubtlessly a very decent *****
Soave!
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