‘There’s definitely increasing synergy among young producers’, says Alessio Inama, one member of this generation. The family winery, Inama, was founded in 1948 but since 1991 has embraced a new philosophy, employing the renowned consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt. This philosophy, Inama says, is based on ‘working with curiosity, dividing in micro-parcels, selecting only the best ones and looking for the perfect levels of maturation, plant by plant, which is allowing us to identify a new level of purity.’ He considers their flagship I Palchi Foscarino Grande Cuvee to be the label that encapsulates this level of winemaking, a wine which allows collectors ’to discover Soave in a new, pure form.’
Leitizia Gini, from the eponymous Gini, whose family has been making wine here since 1570, understands well how much work it takes to still be here 15 generations later. she shows us a photo of her grandmother making their Recioto di Soave Renobilis in a room with no windows and little ventilation.
Giulia Franchetto is winemaker at Franchetto, grapegrowers since 1800, winemakers since her father began in 1982. She describes Soave wines as ‘a red wine dressed as a white’. Weight and mouthfeel is important, but the finish must be fresh and clean. From a musical family (she played french horn in the Venetian youth orchestra) Giulia is attuned to her wines nuances: more ‘vertical’, than round and smooth.
She references the stone fruit, salinity and minerality of the 2021 as ‘my idea of what a perfect Soave should be’. We taste back to 2015, which demonstrates the wines’ ageability – some take on a waxy, lanolin character similar to the prized old Semillon’s of Australia’s Hunter Valley.
It is this versatility of style and flavour profile that is attracting international attention. ‘What has always been a niche product is showing increased relevance for drinkers who are moving away from ‘fruit’ wines in favour of ’stone’ wines.’ says Colin Thorne of UK wine bar and retailer Vagabond Wines, who has recently listed the 2023 Tenuta Corte Giacobbe Monte Calvarina across his 12 outlets in London and Birmingham. He attributes the ‘restoring Soave’s reputation as a prestige white wine’ to producers’ and importers’ ‘long-term commitment to refocus Soave around the key terroirs and utmost quality’.
Producers are getting adventurous in more than just wine style: their packaging looks nothing like it used to. Alessandra Suavia and her two sisters took over their winery from their parents in the early 2000s. Suavia is 30ha of 50-year-old vines on the volcanic hills of Fittà, the highest point in Soave. The bottles, under screwcap, are fat and squat with large, bold typography – a world away from the classic slim Alsace-style bottle that most associate with Soave.
