The Pieropan winery in Soave Classico has released their two single vineyard wines from the 2024 vintage, Soave Classico ‘La Rocca’ and Soave Classico ‘Calvarino’, under screwcap for the UK market.
The winery, now run by Andrea and Dario Pieropan, began its journey to screwcaps in 2005 when their father, Nino Pieropan, was in London for a Liberty Wines tasting and was struck by the purity of the 2024 Riesling from Mount Horrocks, one of the pioneers of this closure in Australia. Pieropan returned home and started experimenting with it before releasing his 2008 Soave Classico under screwcap. At the time, the wine could not be called Soave Classico, as the use of screwcap was not permitted under the DOC law for the zone.
“We felt the name Pieropan and the screwcap were more important than the term ‘Classico’,” explains Liberty Wines’ Buying Director, Nicholas Moschi. This proved to be the case. In 2013, when the law changed, Pieropan returned to Soave Classico with the screwcap closure.
“We have been experimenting with screwcap on ‘Calvarino’ and ‘La Rocca’ for 20 years,” says Andrea Pieropan. “We now feel happy to use this closure on these two wines as we’ve seen at first hand the greater consistency and enhanced aromatic purity it provides to each wine. It also allows us to reduce the level of sulphites and, we have found, ensures a more predictable evolution in bottle.”
The ‘Calvarino;’ vineyard, so called because its steep slopes make working on it a ‘little calvary’, is an unoaked blend of about 70% Garganega and 30% Trebbiano di Soave grown on the classic basalt soils of Soave Classico, while La Rocca, purchased by Pieropan in 1978, is made solely from Garganega grown on a rare outcrop of limestone in this zone and vinified and aged in a mixture of small and large oak. “We think the screwcap is the best closure to retain the mineral purity of ‘Calvarino’ and the rich and spicy complexity of ‘La Rocca’,” says Andrea Pieropan.
“We are very excited to have these wines under screwcap,” says Nicholas Moschi. We’ve been talking to Pieropan about this for a long time, as we feel it is the best closure for these wines. We also know our customers, particularly in restaurants, will prefer this closure as it guarantees consistency and is easier and quicker to open.”
Both wines are now available to order with the new closure in the UK.