The organic Pieropan 2021 Soave Classico La Rocca shows a golden hue with hints of shiny emerald and green. Made with 100% Garganega, it ages in tonneaux for 12 months. The wine is viscous in appearance, gliding within the inside of the glass with thick, slow swirls. The effect is beautiful and full-bodied for sure, with apricot, poached pear, crushed stone and very light saffron or cinnamon. This is just a terrific vintage from a world-class producer. Luckily for us, 48,000 bottles were made.
A different, fuller-weighted brood, boasting ample stone fruits, nutmeg and truffle. Savvy use of oak (tonneaux and larger format French) and extended lees ageing. A vineyard purchased in 1976, situated directly behind the town's castle. Lower altitude, with clay and limestone (rather than the more pervasive volcanics), finding effortless confluence with a winemaking approach that has long-defined this fuller-weighted, late-harvested, highly textural expression. While an outlier stylistically, there is often a fleck of botrytis, all tamarind and dried mango, that melds with the underlying tension to impart generosity and evince authority.
#85 in Top 100 Cellar Selections 2023. Rich yet linear, it is a wine of such profound balance that it can weaken the knees. The 2021 opens with rich and golden apples, honeysuckle, roasted hazelnuts and fresh clover honey. As the wine develops, the minerality shines and brings more nuance to the wine. The palate is textured, layered and so well structured that you might forget that this is wine, not art. Apricots, baked pear and sweet spices drive the palate toward that mineral edge on the finish. (Cellar Selection)
Vanilla and tropical fruit with mango, melon, peach, floral. Intense, rich, intense. good and fresh aftertaste with mineral character. (Silver) - DWWA 2024
A statuesque white, with up-front generosity to the flavors of poached quince, baked pineapple and grilled macadamia nut, which are nicely reined in by well-integrated acidity and a sense of verticality. Fragrant, with notes of honeysuckle and lime blossoms enriched by hints of spun honey and saffron, this is long and lovely. Drink now through 2034.
The 2021 Soave Classico La Rocca seduces, flaunting its rich bouquet of confectionary spice and sweet oak before coming further into focus with baked apple and chamomile notes. This is elegance personified, opulent at first and then decidedly savory and precise, with crisp orchard fruits flowing across a saline-tinged, acidic core. The 2021 finishes with dramatic length, staining the palate in youthful concentration as zesty citrus combines with dried apricot and peach. This is an especially decedent vintage for La Rocca, yet the balance is something to behold. It was refined for one year in a mix of 2000-and 500-liter Slavonian oak barrels.
Winery Notes
Color: Brilliant amedium lemon.
Perfume: Characterful wine, reminiscent of exotic fruit and nuts on the nose.
Palate: Smooth and persistent on the palate, with hints of spice, length and elegance.
