Producer
Pieropan’s estate covers 58 hectares of vineyard which are situated on the stony hills of Soave Classico. The Pieropan family has been producing wines in Soave since the 1890s. Indeed, they were the first producer to bottle a wine with the name Soave on the label in the early 1930s. Nino Pieropan took over from his father in 1970 and was the first producer in Soave to make a single-vineyard wine, ‘Calvarino’, in 1971. Nino’s two sons, Andrea and Dario, took over the running of the estate in 2017 when Nino fell ill and before he passed away in April 2018. From the 2015 vintage onwards, all Pieropan wines are organically certified.
Vineyards
In 1999, the Pieropan family bought uncultivated land on the hill of Garzon, which is 400 metres above sea level in Cellore Illasi in. The Illasi valley is to the west of Soave, and has long been known for the quality of its Valpolicella. Pieropan planted vines in 2000. The vineyard is south-facing with good exposure that ensures excellent ripening of the Valpolicella varieties (Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Croatina). The limestone and clay soil and the windy and dry micro-climate are all ideal conditions for the production of rich yet fine and elegant wines. The vines are trained using the guyot system, with 5,800 vines per hectare. The vineyard is certified organic.
Vinification
Ruberpan is made from fresh grapes rather than the traditional dried or ripasso styles. All the varieties were macerated and vinified together in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks at approximately 23-24°C. Fermentation took 12 days with regular pumping over and daily punching down of the cap. No malolactic fermentation occurred. The wine was aged in 500 and 2,500 litre barrels for 18-24 months. It then spent further time in bottle before release.