Pieropan is a benchmark family estate in Soave, in the Veneto, now run by the fourth generation. La Rocca is its flagship single vineyard, a west-facing, limestone-rich site on the hill beneath Soave Castle, first bottled as a distinct cru in 1978. Planted to old-vine Garganega, the calcareous, free-draining soils give wines of structure and longevity unusual for Soave. Farming is organic. The 2023 growing season in the Veneto was challenging in places, with rain and disease pressure earlier in the year, but careful vineyard work and selection brought in ripe, healthy Garganega.

Unlike Pieropan's stainless-steel Soave cuvees, La Rocca is fermented and matured in large oak. Hand-harvested Garganega was pressed and fermented, then aged for around a year in large casks, with time on lees adding a creamy, savoury dimension and a deeper golden hue. This barrel maturation, together with the old vines and limestone site, gives ripe peach and baked-apple fruit, honeyed and toasted-almond notes, gentle oak spice and a long, structured, cellar-worthy finish.