Italy: North-East - White, including Soave
2016 Gold: 2 Silver: 5 Bronze: 4 Commended: 2
2015 Gold: 2 Silver: 2 Bronze: 5 Commended: 1
There are plenty of years (2011-2014) in this competition when not one Soave has made it on to our Gold List – something of a passive aggressive criticism from our tasters about what they thought of the standard of wines coming out of the region. So to get one – and a well-priced one, at that – was a decent showing for a category that genuinely seemed to intrigue our tasters this year.
Soave may not necessarily be the must-list that it was 20 years ago, but the stylistic variation on show makes it more interesting than it used to be, and that is reflected in this year’s medals, from the classic (and totally over-delivering) Superiore from Cantina di Monteforte to Pieropan’s oaked, complex La Rocca.
It was a similar story with the Veneto whites: plenty of stylistic variety and varying degrees of ambition made for an interesting array of medals.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘In the Veneto, once you move above a certain price point the whole style changes; the whole ethos changes.’ Hamish Anderson, The Tate Group
‘I think people who are really into wine are into north-eastern Italian whites. The more expensive wines showed real class and good winemaking.’ Peter McDaid, Spring
‘The upper end of the Veneto flight was more distinctive, more expressive.’ Sumita Sarma, consultant
‘We got the different styles we know exist within Soave: from leaner, textural and aromatic, into richer wines with riper fruit, and going into the premium level showing some oak. Some of the styles did split the panel.’ Charlie Young, team leader
“I don’t think there’s high demand for Soave.” Peter McDaid, Spring
“This tasting emphasised the disparate styles of Soave – it’s not an easy category for consumers.” Hamish Anderson, The Tate Group
FOOTNOTE: Includes wines from the Veneto; for wines from Trentino, Alto Adige & Friuli-Venezia Giuli.