I was touring the Veneto region in the summer of 2018. One of the producers I would have visited was the unique Leonildo Pieropan. But sadly he passed away only two months before. But he had given me many good memories with his wines, from the lovely entry-level Soave and up to the vineyard wines. La Rocca was a regular when I was responsible for the wine selection at a restaurant during the 1990’s, and it was a delightful revisit when the latest issue appeared in a private tasting lately.
Founded in 1880, the Pieropan family was thought to have been the first to use the term Soave on the labels, several decades before the DOC was born. Leonildo Pieropan was among the first ones to recognize the potential for single vineyard wines, and for the ageing potential of Soave wines and the much overlooked garganega grape.
The Calvarino vineyard was bought by his grandfather in 1901. This was the first single vineyard Soave Classico in 1971.
The La Rocca vineyard is located on the hillside of Mount Rcchetta near Soave’s medieval castle. The soil is calcareous, the south-west, and there are several long, narrow terraces. The harvest is usually done in late October. The harvest is manual, the maceration short but some skin-contact. After fermentation the wine is aged for one year in old barrels of 500L. And the variety? Garganega, obviously.
La Rocca 2018(L. Pieropan)
Golden yellow. Aromas of yellow apples, white flowers, white peach, a touch of tropical fruit, and a nutty touch. Full, glyceric and juicy on the palate, with a pineapple-like acidity, and some bitter almond in the end. It’s complex, quite concentrated and long.
Prive: Medium
Food: Grilled and tasty fish, light meat, cheese, risotto…
Filippo Filippi is a top producer; not only of a high esteem, but the vineyards are also the highest in Soave. (See an earlier post.) Compared to other regions it’s not very high, only 400-something, but combined with the cool winds and the soils it’s just enough to give freshness to the wines.
We are in Castelcerino, a district (‘frazione’ in Italian) of the small, picturesque Soave town. This is the northernmost part of the wine area. It borders with the Val d’Alpone to the east, the last of a series of parallel valleys in the Verona province that brings cool air down from the pre-Alp Lessini mountains. To the east of the valley is the Monte Calvarino, where there was a underwater volcano. You can read more about this and see some pictures in the article about Gambellara. While the ground in Gambellara, Vicenza province, is almost entirely volcanic, Verona is more varied. But there is a lot in the eastern part of Verona too.
Filippo and his mother
The estate has belonged to the family since the 12th Century, but the winegrowing didn’t start untill a hundred years ago or so. Most of the around 20 hectares of vineyards were planted in the 1950’s, and the farming is now biodynamic. When we say family, there are really two. The company’s official name is Visco & Filippi, the former being the family name of Filippo’s mother.
Monteseroni, an 80 year old vintage, with Soave town in the background
We were walking around the beautiful estate. Here it’s almost like time has stood still, quiet, except for the sounds from the crickets and some birds, and very different from the A4 motorway and the Soave-San Bonifacio exit we passed only 5 minutes ago. There is forest all around.
Here it smells of wildflowers and herbs, such as mint and rosemary. Colleague blogger Emma Bentley, who worked here for a few years, tells in a blogpost that she is is astounded by the wildlife in the woods: “I’ve spotted deer, grouse and a snake and seen traces of wild boar. Turns out that wild boar like to munch on any low-hanging grapes…”
As you have already seen, the family has a long and deep relationship with this beautiful and historic property. So it’s no wonder that Filippo is more focused on expressing the virtues of each plot and their individual characteristics, rather than promoting the DOC Soave. There are many others who take care of that, we could add. To achieve his goals he sticks to the principles of old vines, organic farming and low yields, again contrary to many others in the area.
Filippo is a fan of the ‘pergola veronese’ binding method. It’s perfect for garganega, because this variety is very productive, so it is protected by the leaves. He has introduced Guyot in some of his sites too, to see how it works.
Vigne della Brà with its togo soil. The highest part has more clay. In the landscape there are also cricket sounds the bee is an indicator that the soil is organic
In the cellar too, it’s mostly a low-intervention attitude. Though some modern techniques are used, such as temperature-controlled steel vats, and some movements by gravity. But generally it’s just like in the old days; in the ageing room the temperatures vary according to the seasons. On the question if it’s easy to get the fermentation going, Filippo laughs and says no: “piano, piano” (‘wait’) he adds.
The Castelcerino vineyard
In the highest vineyard, Turbiana, at 400 meters. Here there are only trebbiano grapes
The vineyards vary considerably in composition, including soils of basalt, limestone, sand, and clay in the property’s five parcels: Castelcerino, Vigne della Brà, Monteseroni, Turbiana, and Calprea.
For the tasting Filippo presented a map of the vineyards, and a stone that represented the most dominant soil on each plot. Here are some brief comments.
We started with Castelcerino 2016, a garganega from two parcels at 320 meters of volcanic soil, and southeast exposure. The wine is made in stainless steel vats. It’s light in colour with a yellowish (or: slightly brown) tinge; aromas of apples, white flowers, almonds; very tasteful, slightly bitter in the aftertaste (a garganega feature), mineral salt (from the volacanic soil), and with 3 grams residual sugar it was rounded off against the acidity. He works with fine lees in all the wines, mostly 8-9 months, but one wine stayed on the lees for no less than 56 months. It doesn’t masque the terroir, according to Filippi, because the character of soil and grape are that strong.
Vigne della Brà 2016 comes from a 60-70 year old vineyard at 380 meters, with southwestern exposure. The soils shifts between clay and sand, with some basalt and limestone. Like the former wine it’s a varietal garganega elevated in steel. It stayed there for 14 months on the lees. The appearance is light and clear; aromas of apples, flowers, mint, melissa; more acidity than the previous wine, refreshing, and with a slight bitterness. It was not filtered, not clarified, but it had been moved between different vessels a couple of times before a late bottling. It’s not very unlike the former, but more acidic, refined and elegant.
While the two first wines are DOC Soave, the next two are IGT Veneto.
Monteseroni 2016 is from the estate’s warmest site, the south-exposed vinayard at 350 meters, with mostly calcareous soils. It was accordingly more yellow in colour; more mature apples in the aroma, together with flowers and herbs. We can say that it was a bit “wilder”. It was also fuller, pure and tasty and long, but with less acidity as the Brà. In general this vineyard has 70-80 year old vines, but some are younger. The soil is calcareous.
Turbiana 2016: This is the trebbiano di Soave (also called ‘turbiana’) from that highest elevated vineyard at around 400 meters. The soil here is very poor, rocky and sandy, and the yields are low. It’s elevated in stainless steel, where it has contact with the lees for at least 6 months. Light in colour; mature apples and mint on the nose; round and balanced, with a natural acidity. It has the lowest quantity of SO2 of all his wines.
After this we tried some Castelcerino wines to see how they were developing: Castelcerino 2015 (from the part called “drio casa”): Yellow; honeyed at the beginning, spices, white fruites, medium full, mineral, salt. Castelcerino 12 “56 mesi sui lieviti – Foglio 1”. You have now guessed that this was the 56 months on the lees wine that I talked about. The designation “foglio 1” means that this was the first vineyard to be mapped in the Soave commune (at that time it was called Alberti, by the way). Filippo proudly shows me that map as evidence. The wine: Yellow colour; mature apples, followd by rounded citrus like clementines, and some notes of apricot/nectarines and mynth; grapey and round in the mouth and genereally elegant.
We also had a glance the other way, towards the future, with tank samples of Castelcerino and Vigne della Brà 2017. This was a hotter year, with some hail in the end of august. This showed in the samples, but this is just the way it is.
Soave signifies something soft and mellow. This area itself is not especially dramatic either. But the geography is capable of showing big differences in expression. And garganega, the most prominent grape in the area, is a very successful interpreter of these different terroirs. For me, both aspects were clearly demonstrated for the first time, in a guided tasting during the VinItaly fair in nearby Verona some years ago.
Vigne della Brà (photo: courtesy of Cant. Filippi)
Cantina Filippi disposes of the highest vineyards in the Soave area. 400 meters above sea level might not seem enough to challenge your fear of heights, but all is relative, and these plots have an advantage over other Soave sites in terms of natural acidity. Most of their 16 hectars of vineyards were planted in the 1950s. These are divided into several crus with different characteristics.
There is a high volcanic content in the vineyard
In all vineyards organic farming is practised, and the soils are volcanic rock, limestone and clay. Filippi keeps the pergola training of garganega inherited from his ancestors. He doesn’t wish to blend garganega with more acidic grapes, as he more appreciate a saline form of minerality. Having said this, 6 g/L isn’t that low either.
The wine was fermented with native yeasts is stainless steel, and it stayed on fine lees for around one year. Not filtrated.
Vigne delle Brà 2013(Cantina Filippi)
Light yellow. Mature apple and some citric notes in the aroma, some nuts and saline minerality. Round and mellow in the mouth, a slight bitterness in the finish.
