From Monchiero Carbone in Piedmont, a white built on Cortese, the grape of Gavi and of almost nowhere else. The 2023 vintage carries the full Gavi di Gavi DOC name, which is the stricter of the two: the village of Gavi itself, not the wider zone around it.
- Cortese, Piedmont's own white grape.
- Gavi di Gavi DOC, the village-level appellation.
- 2023, a warm vintage across Piedmont.
- 12.5% abv, light in body, dry.
- High acidity, low tannin.
How it is made
Gavi is a white wine from a region the world knows for reds. Cortese grows on the limestone and clay hills of the southern Piedmont, around the town of Gavi in the province of Alessandria, and the DOCG rules keep it a varietal wine: Cortese only, nothing blended in. The di Gavi tier narrows the source to the commune itself.
How it tastes
Green apple and citrus first, then white peach, and a clear almond note that is typical of the grape. The acidity is high and the body light, so the fruit stays taut rather than round, and the finish is mineral and dry. White flowers sit over the top of it.
Where it comes from
Gavi sits in the far south-east of Piedmont, closer to Liguria and the sea than to Barolo or Barbaresco. The hills there run up against the Apennines, and the wine has been made in the area since at least the seventeenth century.
Good to know
Cortese is a thin-skinned, late-ripening grape that struggles anywhere warm; it holds its acidity only where the nights stay cool. That is why Gavi, and not the Langhe, became its home.
