Prà, Soave Classico (Veneto, Italy) Monte Grande 2016

($29, Vinifera Imports):  Prà, like Pieropan, is a benchmark producer of Soave Classico.  The Prà name on a label is as good a guarantee of quality as you can get.  Their flagship Soave Classico bottling is from the well-regarded and well-situated Monte Grande vineyard.   Prà performs an unusual, but highly successful, technique to increase the concentration of their Monte Grande.  About five weeks prior to harvest, they sever the canes, but leave them among the vines, allowing the grapes to dry partially on the vine.  Then they harvest these partially dried grapes with a small percentage (sometimes none) of normally ripened grapes to make the wine. Prà’s very youthful 2016 Monte Grande still shows flavors of oak, from barrel aging, along with gorgeous stone fruit flavors and vibrant acidity.  This is a magnificent young wine, years away from being ready.  But there’s no rush since Prà’s Monte Grande develop gorgeously with bottle age — you could be excused if you thought the 2001 I had recently was a mature Meursault Premier Cru! 94 Michael Apstein Oct 3, 2017