Griaziano Pra, Owner and Winemaker

We all enjoy it when new wines come on board here at JN. We all love the product we work with and it’s always good to try new things but now and again something comes along that surprises us and creates a bit of a stir. Dare I say it but there is currently something of a frisson of excitement about some new Italian wines that have just come in. It started when we launched them at the Dublin tasting last week. There was many a whispered ‘have you tried the fabulous Soaves yet?’ circulating around the room.

I was lucky enough to be on the table beside Laura (right) who was representing the Prà winery who make these vinous treats. I was close enough to sneak across and get a taste of each of the wines. Just lovely! Now Soave is not something I would usually get excited about. They can be very pleasant and very drinkable but rarely would they be exciting. The general consensus here seems to be that these wines are a little bit special.I asked Laura what the secret to such delicious wines was and she told me that she had asked that very same question to Graziano Prà – owner and winemaker.  His answer?  30 years!  Apparently 30 years experience means you really know what you’re doing and if his wines are anything to go by there could be some truth in that.
Winegrowing runs in the Prà family. Graziano and his brothers Sergio and Flavio inherited their vineyards from their father Angel. In his day, the grapes were sold to the local co-op. Graziano, Sergio and Flavio all attended winemaking college and decided that they should try a new business venture by making and bottling the wine themselves. In 1983 their first Soave Classico was made and sold with enough success to convince them that this was indeed the way forward and so the winery has grown from there. There are now a number of wines in the portfolio and we have brought in 4 wines – Soave Classico, Soave Classico Staforte, Valpolicella Classico and Valpolicella Ripasso. All the wines are very good quality and display lovely fruit concentration, balance, elegance, flavour, minerality and texture. Antonio Galloni (part of the Robert Parker team) cites Prà as one of his favourite producers in Veneto.
View all our Pra Wines