Each month, David Brenner of Villasfor2 in Abruzzo recommends a ‘Special Italian Wine’ for you to try and enjoy at home – or on your Abruzzo holiday.

Soave Classico 2007. DOC. Tommasi Viticoltori

You know Soave. Of course you do. Insipid, uninspiring, uninteresting and if you think I'm going to pay €10 for a bottle you have to be crazy. Well…yes, yes, yes – and think again.

Soave's one of those trademark Italian wines like Chianti, Barolo and Pinot Grigio that has such a vast and insatiable worldwide market that you have to pick your way incredibly carefully through the dross before you can find the jewels. But when you do – and here you most certainly do – the search is all the more worthwhile.

A few basics. Soave comes from the area around Verona in north-east Italy and centred on the comune of Soave. It's made principally from the Garganega grape and is generally made to be drunk in the year or so following the vintage.

Soave Classico's a different glass of wine altogether. Its production is based only on the comune of Soave itself and neighbouring Monteforte d'Alpone – the wine's original production area. This Classico area accounts for around only 20% of all Soave production.

The grape's the same and so's the production technique – steel vat fermentation – but Classico is a little stronger, (in this case 12%), and consequently can quite happily sit and develop for a few years after bottling, developing some interesting minerally undertones along the way. 

There's a strange little piece of reverse wine snobbery attached to Soave Classico. It's been granted premier DOCG status, but for reasons only they can explain, Classico's producers have declined this offer and continue to market their wine as a plain and simple DOC. The same as every other drop of Soave. Go figure.

The only other thing that raised an eyebrow was the plastic cork. But that's just my wine snobbery surfacing…

Less contentiously, this is as good a summer white wine as you're likely to find anywhere. To start with, it just looks so deliciously cool and refreshing in the glass. A pale, limpid gold. The taste is so pure and delicate that I prefer sipping it just on its own. And maybe just a little colder than is normal for a white wine. Bottom of the fridge for a few hours, rather than the top.

It's light, floral and refreshing, with enough of a dry finish to stop it getting too soft. There's a very slight bitterness underneath those floral notes, which I guess will get a little more assertive and interesting with age. If you buy this to go with a meal, follow the suggestion of the producers and drink it with a seafood risotto. That'd be pretty good.

At A Glance…

• This month's featured wine: Soave Classico
• Vintage: 2007
• Producer: Tommasi Viticoltori
• Website: www.tommasiwine.it
• Grape: 90% Garganega; 10% Trebbiano Veronese
• Strength: 12%
• Closure: Plastic cork
• This bottle cost: €10

Next Month…

We're continuing the summer theme and sticking to whites, with perhaps the very best on offer from southern Italy: the wonderful Greco di Tufo DOCG from Campania, produced by one of the region's top wineries. It's a perfect wine for hot-weather drinking and one you'll enjoy at home – or on your Abruzzo holiday !

This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Eating and Drinking, Special Italian Wine, Vineyards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.