@
With all the heavy foods of the holiday season, a nice, refreshing white wine is often more than enjoyable – it’s medically necessary. The key, of course, is finding a wine that you’re not going to be served at every holiday gathering for the next month. We all know the routine: Because most people are reluctant to drink outside their comfort zone (which is to say they tend to only drink what they’re familiar with, i.e., famous-label Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet, Shiraz and the rest), most of us have grown fairly tired of the same-old-same-old by now.
This is where Soave comes in.
For too many people, however, Soave isn’t a wine they’d consider. Among the wine-drinking public, it’s still working to prove that the good stuff has nothing to do with the cheap, overproduced juice that was its calling-card on American wine-shop shelves for far too long.
But this is a new era for Soave, and it is, in my opinion, one of the most underappreciated whites of Europe. When produced with care, from grapes (mostly Garganega) that were grown with love and attention, Soave is a perfect go-to wine: It tends to show freshness, minerality, an occasional hint of flowers and, sometimes, nut notes. Soave is delicious with food, but just as pleasant on its own. And it has about as much to do with the old-school plonk as, say, Mozart does with Michael Bolton. Which is to say, nothing at all.
And if you want to spend a bit more, look for labels that say either Soave Classico, Soave Superiore, or Recioto di Soave, all of which express very different sides of the Soave region as a whole and of the Garganega grape variety in particular.
This time of year, however, I tend to crave wines I can drink in volume, and often. And for that, I recommend the Riondo Pianello Excelsa 2010, a straightforward, refreshing Soave that, though it lacks the focus and expressivity of the best of the Classico zone, nonetheless serves a more than worthy purpose: To refresh, and to accompany food, both of which it does very well indeed. A nose of bright citrus fruit and pear leads to flavors of pear, minerals and more citrus. It’s straightforward and understated, and all the more pleasant for it. In other words, perfect right now.