Gavi / Cortese di Gavi DOCG

Piedmont’s flagship white — and one of the most misunderstood wines in Italy. Gavi’s reputation oscillates between “Italy’s answer to Chablis” and “overpriced, neutral water.” The truth depends entirely on who made it and where the grapes came from.

The Grape and History Made from Cortese, an ancient white variety native to the southeastern Monferrato. The DOCG covers the commune of Gavi and 10 surrounding communes in Alessandria province, elevated to DOCG status in 1998. The name derives from the town of Gavi (from the Latin cavatum, “cavern”), not from any legendary princess.

The Terroir The benchmark sites are in the Rovereto di Gavi sub-zone, where red, iron-rich clay soils over limestone add structure and mineral depth to the naturally high-acid Cortese. The proximity to the Ligurian Apennines creates maritime-influenced conditions: cool nights, moderate summers, and sea air that preserves freshness.

The Wine At its best: crisp, mineral, flinty, with citrus peel, white almond, and a distinctive saline finish. With age (5–8 years from serious producers), it develops Riesling-like complexity — petrol, lanolin, waxy texture. At its worst: neutral, thin, and forgettable.

The Critical Take Gavi’s identity problem is industrial overproduction. Seek single-vineyard or estate-bottled versions from the Rovereto sub-zone. Avoid cooperatives and supermarket labels.

A Genoese Wine Made in Piedmont The single most useful fact about Gavi is that it faces the wrong way. The town guarded the pass between the Po plain and the sea and was Genoese territory for centuries — the vast fortress above it is Genoa’s, not Piedmont’s — and the wine was made for the Ligurian table, drunk with anchovies and fried fish in a port city an hour’s cart ride away. That is why a Piedmontese white tastes of salt and citrus rather than of hazelnut, and why it works with seafood in a way nothing else in the region does.

Sea Air Through a Gap The geography does the rest. The Apennine chain is at its lowest and narrowest here, and maritime air pushes inland through the Passo dei Giovi and the Bocchetta, moderating the summer and dropping the nights. Gavi is warmer than the Langhe in the day and cooler at night, and Cortese — a variety that loses its acidity easily — needs exactly that.

Volume Is the Problem Gavi produces a very large amount of wine for a DOCG, most of it from the flatter ground and much of it made to a price for export. The denomination has never resolved the tension between being a recognisable international brand and being a specific place, and the result is a name that means something quite different at eight euros than at twenty-five.

At the Table Ligurian food, unsurprisingly: acciughe, fried anchovies and whitebait, trofie al pesto, and stockfish. Also the Piedmontese vitello tonnato. Serve at 10–12°C.

Benchmark Producers Castellari Bergaglio, La Raia (biodynamic), Villa Sparina, Broglia.