Italy: North-East - White, including Soave
2018 Gold 1 Silver 4 Bronze 5 Commended 4
2017 Gold 5 Silver 5 Bronze 4 Commended 11
The medal count was always likely to be down here compared with last year’s extraordinary showing, but it was still disappointing to have the lowest number of Gold-Listed wines for five years. This, though, was not an across-the-board poor performance. Soave did what it always does: one Gold, a string of decent medals and generally happy tasters; the problem was, essentially, everywhere else. A much reduced entry was eloquent proof of the Frost-ocalypse that this part of the country suffered last year. We had only one 2017 vintage medal here this year.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘Soave is a victim of its image. But we found some serious wines here – some taking Burgundy as their model, others like Riesling. There was freshness of fruit, acidity, no overoaking, and balance. Very satisfying.’ Simon Woods, team leader
‘There’s definitely value to be had in Soave – and a bit of character. As you go up the prices, there’s more secondary flavours, lees, oak touches giving it more structure. The wines at the top end show value for money compared to overpriced Burgundies.’ Andre Luis Martins, Cavalry & Guards Club
‘The cheaper [non-Soave] wines were more interesting. They got worse value once we got to £8 – they didn’t justify the price.’ Hamish Anderson, Tate Catering
‘Our Gold Soave had depth, complexity and serious food-matching capability. Perhaps Garganega could do for its region what Albariño has done for Galicia.’ Martin Lam, team leader
‘There’s a big market for clean and refreshing white wines. I’ve got a Pinot Grigio that’s fairly premium, but it’s often not what customers are expecting – you’ve got to be careful not to go too far.’ Euan McColm, Beaverbrook