Pieropan Supper With Andrea Pieropan Offer
Pieropan is one of the great names in Soave. The straight Soave is typically one of the great values in Italy, while the higher-end bottlings have proven to age quite beautifully, the Calvarino in particular. ANTONIO GALLONI
These are red wines that only a white wine producer could make; they’re unique, full of energy and spicy tension with cascading florality throughout. Pieropan’s Valpolicella vineyards in the Val d’Illasi are outside the Classico zone and near the borders of Soave. The Amarone is among the top wines I tasted this year, and the Valpolicella is spellbinding. ERIC GUIDO
Pieropan is one of the modern wine lover's heroes. When the whole appellation was being degraded by larger industrial makers, Leonildo Pieropan stood as a beacon of hope, a defender of the quality pre-war style of Soave. Wines that came off vineyards exclusively in the original areas around the medieval village of the same name and importantly, wines that transferred the unique characteristics of the steep volcanic vineyards into subtle and complex renderings of this famous wine. Since his death in 2018, Leonildo's sons, Dario and Andrea, have taken the estate to new heights. They've opened a new winery and branched out into the neighbouring red wine zone of Valpolicella where those wines instantly showed these guys were not one-trick ponies. Their impact has been compelling and proved they inherited much of their famous father's gifts.
Spearheading the range of wines is the quite brilliant Soave Classico. If this isn't on every wine collectors top 10 value for money white of the world, then it's time to think again. Blended from the family's holdings and dominated by the local garganega (there's trebbiano di Soave as well) the wine showcases the house style for pure orchard fruits and almond aromatics and flavours couched within complexing textural backdrops.
Beyond that wine are the two famed single-vineyard wines, Calvarino and La Rocca. While the Classico is delicate, fresh and fruit driven, the single site wines deliver palate whetting concentration and complexity, their diamond-cut clarity faithfully telling the tale of their vineyards each vintage. These are intellectual wines that command your attention and will reveal themselves in more detail with some time in the cellar. Best of all, they are still astonishingly affordable.
Calvarino is the finer of the two, grown on traditional pergola on a prime, steep slope that sees the vines snake their roots into the ancient volcanic soils below. It sees no oak and shows a sleek frame peppered with flinty minerality that drives long and lean across your palate. Lovers of Chablis and great dry riesling will be in for a treat here.
La Rocca is a different beast. It's chalky clay soils and later harvest date deliver of wine of noticeable richness and volume. A little oak here builds further texture and flavours head towards honeyed yellow fruits. Again, power and complexity abound with mineral nuance lacing the edge of the palate. Those with an appreciation of white Burgundy will find solace here.
To finish the wines from the home estate is the uneconomic but historically significant, Recioto di Soave, La Colombare. Ageing the fruit on bamboo mats to concentrate sugars, the wine balances sweetness with a savoury twang. A super beautiful Italian dessert wine.
Over the way in Valpolicella, the brothers are making a splash with Valpolicella and Amarone. As Eric Guido says, These are red wines that only a white wine producer could make; they’re unique, full of energy and spicy tension with cascading florality throughout.
It's an honour to have Andrea here tonight and in celebration of that fact we've made some very special pricing. If you love the wines already then this is a great opportunity to grab them at excellent rates.
Cheers
Michael
These are red wines that only a white wine producer could make; they’re unique, full of energy and spicy tension with cascading florality throughout. Pieropan’s Valpolicella vineyards in the Val d’Illasi are outside the Classico zone and near the borders of Soave. The Amarone is among the top wines I tasted this year, and the Valpolicella is spellbinding. ERIC GUIDO
Pieropan is one of the modern wine lover's heroes. When the whole appellation was being degraded by larger industrial makers, Leonildo Pieropan stood as a beacon of hope, a defender of the quality pre-war style of Soave. Wines that came off vineyards exclusively in the original areas around the medieval village of the same name and importantly, wines that transferred the unique characteristics of the steep volcanic vineyards into subtle and complex renderings of this famous wine. Since his death in 2018, Leonildo's sons, Dario and Andrea, have taken the estate to new heights. They've opened a new winery and branched out into the neighbouring red wine zone of Valpolicella where those wines instantly showed these guys were not one-trick ponies. Their impact has been compelling and proved they inherited much of their famous father's gifts.
Spearheading the range of wines is the quite brilliant Soave Classico. If this isn't on every wine collectors top 10 value for money white of the world, then it's time to think again. Blended from the family's holdings and dominated by the local garganega (there's trebbiano di Soave as well) the wine showcases the house style for pure orchard fruits and almond aromatics and flavours couched within complexing textural backdrops.
Beyond that wine are the two famed single-vineyard wines, Calvarino and La Rocca. While the Classico is delicate, fresh and fruit driven, the single site wines deliver palate whetting concentration and complexity, their diamond-cut clarity faithfully telling the tale of their vineyards each vintage. These are intellectual wines that command your attention and will reveal themselves in more detail with some time in the cellar. Best of all, they are still astonishingly affordable.
Calvarino is the finer of the two, grown on traditional pergola on a prime, steep slope that sees the vines snake their roots into the ancient volcanic soils below. It sees no oak and shows a sleek frame peppered with flinty minerality that drives long and lean across your palate. Lovers of Chablis and great dry riesling will be in for a treat here.
La Rocca is a different beast. It's chalky clay soils and later harvest date deliver of wine of noticeable richness and volume. A little oak here builds further texture and flavours head towards honeyed yellow fruits. Again, power and complexity abound with mineral nuance lacing the edge of the palate. Those with an appreciation of white Burgundy will find solace here.
To finish the wines from the home estate is the uneconomic but historically significant, Recioto di Soave, La Colombare. Ageing the fruit on bamboo mats to concentrate sugars, the wine balances sweetness with a savoury twang. A super beautiful Italian dessert wine.
Over the way in Valpolicella, the brothers are making a splash with Valpolicella and Amarone. As Eric Guido says, These are red wines that only a white wine producer could make; they’re unique, full of energy and spicy tension with cascading florality throughout.
It's an honour to have Andrea here tonight and in celebration of that fact we've made some very special pricing. If you love the wines already then this is a great opportunity to grab them at excellent rates.
Cheers
Michael