the History

It may simply be a mysterious coincidence, but the name of a wine has never been so expressive of its enological personality and deepest identity as that of Soave: elegant, harmonious and supple.
Evidence of wine-growing in the Soave area dates back to ancient times, and this famous wine has accompanied man through the millennia since earliest history.

Historians who have tried over the centuries to explain the origins of the name “Soave” hold various and not always coinciding opinions: the most widely accepted explanation is that the beautiful Soave area took its name from the Suevians, a German people who came down into Italy with Alboin, the Longobard king.

Many historical documents mention Soave and these wines were certainly greatly appreciated many centuries ago. However their fame especially developed in the early 20th century, when the larger Veronese wineries promoted Soave on all the national and foreign markets, and today this wine has earned the coveted description “Classico eminent Italian white wine” and the prestigious status as the most greatly exported Italian white wine.

The Soave production zone is situated in the eastern part of the hills in the province of Verona (north of the “serenissima” highway, between the 18th and 25th kilometres of the VR-VE road).
The zone includes part or all of the lands belonging to the municipalities of Soave, Monteforte, San Martino B.A., Lavagno, Mezzane, Caldiero, Colognola, Illasi, Cazzano, San Bonifacio, Roncà, Montecchia and S. Giovanni Ilarione.

Garganega is the designation’s principal grape variety, and over the centuries it has found an ideal habitat here in the contours of the Alpone, Tramigna, Illasi and Mezzane valleys.
In the vast, high quality scenario of prestigious Veronese wines, this ideal symbiosis of environment and vine variety, necessary for the production of quality white wines, has only been achieved in these hills of tufaceous volcanic land with large limy outcrops. In climatic terms the whole area enjoys a mild, temperate climate: the winters are not severe and the summers are not too hot.

The use of the specification “Classico” with the designation “Soave” is reserved for the product made from grapes harvested and vinified in the municipalities of Soave and Monteforte d’Alpone, ie. the oldest, original “classic” zone.
Castles, churches, belltowers and luxurious aristocratic villas emerging from the sea of vineyards demonstrate the rich history and traditions of this area, closely linked to its principal product.

Back in 1931 Soave was already the most important Italian wine and was recognised as a “typical and prestigious” wine, and its identity was definitively protected by recognition of the controlled designation of origin in 1968 (DPR 21st August 1968).