Province of Verona
Established: 1890
Owners: Pieropan family
Winemakers: Leonildo, Andrea & Dario Pieropan
Production: 400,000 bottles
Hectares of vines: 45
Viticulture: Organic
The single vineyard wines Calvarino and La Rocca are polar opposites, yet they share a remarkable capacity to age gracefully. Calvarino, with 30% Trebbiano, is oak-free with pure fruit that is tight and minerally. La Rocca, from the vineyard that overlooks the town itself, is late harvested and aged in tonneaux, displaying ripe tropical fruit with an intense, layered palate that is velvety and persistent. Recioto di Soave, invented by Leonildo’s father, is made with the best grapes from the recie – ears of the bunch – and dried on racks for five months. The wine is an exquisite balance between delicate sweetness and refreshing acidity.
The new red wines, from the hilly Val d’Illasi in Valpolicella, are a true expression of the Pieropan style, favouring complexity and elegance. The vineyard, on Monte Garzon with sweeping views of the valley, was planted in 2000 to Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Croatina at 300-500 metres on soil rich in limestone and clay. Valpolicella Ruberpan, perfumed with red cherry fruit and sweet spice, is vivacious with silky tannins.
Valpolicella Ruberpan is elegant and perfumed with cherry and blackberry fruit and spice, the palate complex and elegant with lively fruit and silky tannins. The grapes for Amarone ‘Vigna Garzon’, (60% Corvina, 25% Corvinone and 15% Rondinella) are placed in trays and dried in the cellar using fans to avoid disease and botrytis and, after drying, the yield is a miniscule 300 grams per vine! Following pressing the must is fermented for approximately 30 days with daily punching down and it is then aged for three years in tonneaux plus one in the bottle prior. The wine has a heady perfume of black cherries, blackberries and plums, the palate round and complex with a powerful structure and a lovely freshness on the finish. The alcohol is often 16% but the wine carries it beautifully with Pieropan’s hallmark elegance.
