The word “soave ” is an adjective, even before it is the proper name of the town of Soave. On the Italian dictionary The following definition is given: of a delicate sweetness that evokes feelings of tender surrender or of calm and peaceful serenity. Refers to the quality of something that evokes a feeling of gentle enjoyment and subtle pleasure, as perceived through the senses of sight, taste, and smell. So what better adjective could there be for a delicate, fresh white wine like Soave?

The name of the town of Soave is said to derive from the Svevi or Suavi, an ancient Germanic people who, alongside the Lombard king Alboin, attempted to conquer Italy in 568. It is the Old Italian form of the German word “Schwaben” (“Swabia”), the region in Germany where the House of Hohenstaufen originated. It appears in the third canto of Dante’s *Purgatorio*, where the second “wind of Soave”—that is, Henry VI of Swabia—is mentioned.