Suavia

Winemaking is a family affair for Giovanni and Rosetta Tessari and their four daughters, Arianna, Meri, Valentina (winemaker) and Alessandra. The lovely Tessari siblings speak of their vineyards in the same way they speak of grandfather Giuseppe and Nonna Serafina, who taught them to care for every vine, every plot and every grape on the property since they were children. Nonno Giuseppe built the Tessari home in 1887, high on the Fittà hills that overlook the Classico heartland, facing the hills of Soave and Monteforte d’Alpone. A century later, in 1982, his son Giovanni and wife Rosetta chose to estate-bottle Tessari wine. They built a state-of-the-art winery and labeled the range Suavia “as a tribute to the tradition and culture of their terroir.” Today, Suavia is one of the appellation’s benchmark wineries thanks to:

• A love for the Soave Classico terroir
• Very old, select rootstock (many vines are 50-70 years old!)
• The appellation’s varietal heritage: Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave
• Suavia’s volcanic soil, which gives the wines mineral and flinty notes
• The ideal, hillside microclimate, altitude and exposure, with sunny days and cool nights, leading to the wines’ layered aromas and characterful nuances of ripe, exotic fruit.

The Suavia vineyards cover 12 hectares (nearly 30 acres) in the heart of Soave Classico, the appellation’s historic core in the districts of Fittà, Carbonare, Castellaro and Tremenalto (all of them major crus). These are volcanic hills with an elevation as high as 320 meters (1,050 feet) above sea level. The microclimate is cooler than the Soave plains and is characterized by wide-ranging temperature differences as well as ideal hillside exposures that ensure additional hours of sunshine for the vineyards. Finally, the soil itself is a major quality guarantee. It originated through underwater volcanic eruptions during the Eocene epoch (approx. 50 million years ago), resulting in hills made of basalt and volcanic rocks whose mineral components (notably iron, magnesium and manganese) are extremely beneficial to the vineyards.