Swimming against the tide, the Pieropan family have been flag-bearers for the Soave DOC for several decades, a small speck of quality in an ocean of often less than adequate wines. The family`s association with wine stretches back to at least 1890, which is when Leonildo Pieropan established the company. It passed from his hands to those of his sons, Fausto and Gustavo, and then to his grandson, also called Leonildo. Today he and his wife Teresita continue to run the estate, with the help of their own two sons, Andrea and Dario, in more recent years.
The continued success of Pieropan is generally ascribed to Leonildo junior rather than his forebears, and in particular it is likely that Leonildo`s attention to detail in the vineyard is a significant factor in this. The family now own more than 30 hectares of vines, which see spur pruning and crop thinning to control yields, and only organic fertiliser. In addition he is committed to producing wines using Garganega, the indigenous variety long associated with the region, unlike some other Soave producers who have introduced international varieties such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc to bolster their wines. The fruit is hand-harvested and transported to the winery where it undergoes pneumatic pressing before cooling and settling over a couple of days. It is then racked off the skins and fermented in cement vats with the temperature controlled to 20ºC. Although dating back to 1460 the restored winery building, named Pullici, has modern facilities where deemed necessary - such as a spotless drying chamber for producing Recioto - but otherwise modern techniques which obscure the character of the wines, such as barrique fermentation and ageing, are avoided, at least for the classically styled dry wines. As a rule, the wines are filtered and bottled the spring after harvest.
The Wine Doctor
Soave Classico 2006: 90% Garganega and 10% Trebbiano di Soave. Very subtle and discreet nose of lime, white fruit and vegetal, leafy character. Fresh, clean and seamless with good concentration of herb tinged fruit on the palate. The wine ends on a lovely crisp acidity.
