Pieropan La Rocca Soave Classico 2024 – One of Italy’s Great White Wines – 94 Points Kerin O’Keefe and Decanter Silver Medal: case of six bottles delivered

Pieropan La Rocca Soave Classico 2024

Pieropan has been synonymous with fine Soave for generations, but La Rocca occupies a special place even within this celebrated estate. Made entirely from Garganega grown in the single La Rocca vineyard on Monte Rocchetta, immediately below Soave’s medieval castle, this is a profound and unusually age-worthy expression of one of Italy’s great native white grapes.

The vineyard’s limestone and clay soils distinguish La Rocca from the volcanic sites found elsewhere in Soave, while late hand-harvesting and extended maturation on the fine lees in French oak tonneaux and large Slavonian barrels give the wine its characteristic richness, complexity and wonderfully silky texture.

The 2024 vintage is intense and beautifully expressive, combining exotic and stone fruits, yellow peach and dried apricot with almond and nuts, honey and intriguing notes of saffron, cinnamon, ginger and white pepper. Rich and generous on the palate, it nevertheless retains the balance and elegance that distinguish the finest Italian whites.

The critics have already recognised the quality of the new vintage, with 94 points from Kerin O’Keefe and a 92-point Silver Medal from Decanter. Their assessments underline what makes La Rocca so distinctive: beautifully ripe fruit, savoury complexity, impressive persistence and richness without heaviness.

The CountryClubuk Wine Tasting Panel tasted the newly arrived 2024 vintage in August and was delighted to approve it for the Club Cellar, finding it a worthy successor to the outstanding La Rocca vintages we have recommended previously. Rich, complex and beautifully balanced, this is a serious Italian white with genuine character and individuality – and a wine we are delighted to recommend to Members.

At the table, La Rocca comes into its own. It is excellent with lobster, scallops and richer fish dishes, porcini and truffle, roast veal and poultry. Pieropan itself recommends La Rocca with guinea fowl – a particularly delicious match. Serve at around 12–14°C, rather than over-chilled, and allow the wine a little time in the glass to reveal its remarkable complexity.