2023 Fratelli Giacosa Gavi DOCG Piedmont

Fifth-generation family winery out of Piedmont, founded in 1895 by sharecropper Giuseppe Giacosa — who bought the Neive estate after winning the Italian lottery. The family now farms 50 hectares across the region's most serious appellations: Barolo's Monforte d'Alba and Castiglione Falletto, Barbaresco's Neive, and the Gavi hills bordering Liguria.

This Gavi is 100% Cortese from vineyards in the Alessandria area — a grape already well-known in the region in the 18th century. Cortese is Piedmont's answer to crisp, high-acid whites: bone-dry, light-bodied, built for the table. The Gavi territory is hilly, close to the Ligurian coast, and the grape thrives in the cooler microclimates.

Harvested October 10th, 2024 at 19.8 Brix. Fermented cold in stainless steel at 61–64°F with no malolactic — the winemaking is designed to preserve the grape's natural freshness and acidity. Released just a few months after harvest, it's built to drink young and crisp, though moderate aging develops more fully fruited notes.

In the glass: pale straw with green hints. Apples and white flowers on the nose. Dry, light, full-bodied in the way lean whites can be when the acidity holds the structure. The kind of white that makes a $30 Pinot Grigio taste lazy. $22.98 for a wine with five generations and 130 years behind it.