Happy New Year to you all. Welcome to dry January, by which I mean welcome to this week's crisp, citrus, mineral and, most fittingly, dry white wine:
It has been an enjoyable festive season, with family and friends all staying well and happy. One or two infected with a mild dose of the current plague, but generally staying out of trouble. Our bottle tree is becoming nicely populated, reflecting a good effort over the recent past, and I am looking forward to adding this one to the collection.
In support of that ambition let's get tasting. Gavi is a commune in Piemonte, North West Italy. The Cortese grapes for this particular Gavi wine were grown within the boundaries of the Gavi commune itself and therefore, this bottle is labelled 'Gavi di Gavi', whereas other Gavi wines which can be made from grapes grown in the neighbouring villages are labelled simply as 'Gavi'. As I have said before, I really love the complications and subtleties of the Italian wine world.
Ascheri have been producing wines for close to 150 years and are a respected maker of the traditional wines of the region. They have a portfolio including Barolos, Dolcettos and Barbarescos alongside white wines such as this on and others made from Moscato and Arneis.
The Gavi di Gavi is made from 100% Cortese that was harvested in mid-September, fermented for 15 days and left to rest on the lees until the following Spring to add complexity and soften the acidity.
It tastes mostly of citrus fruits, lead by lemon and grapefruit with a touch of lime, and has a long mineral finish. These flavours develop as the fruit grows in the hot summers when the cold nights allow some respite from the heat and prevents the fruit over-ripening. The winters are cold and the vines become dormant under the snow, followed by wet springs to provide he ground water that the grapes will need later in the year.
This is a really great start to the New Year and I commend this wine to the house. Which is another way of saying that I expect to buy it again.
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