Gavi

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The vineyards of the appellation have a hilly topography with a northwest–southeast exposure, considered the ideal environment for the Cortese variety.
• Valley-floor soils have been excluded from the production zone as unsuitable for quality viticulture.
• The soils alternate between argillaceous marls, locally known as «terre bianche» (white soils), and «terre rosse» (red soils) characterised by brown, leached, and hydromorphic frangipan profiles.
• These soils lend themselves poorly to intensive cultivation of other crops, also in relation to their aspect, but prove well suited to quality viticulture and winemaking at low yields.
• The Cortese variety is indigenous and has been present for millennia in the production zone of the Gavi appellation.

• The earliest document attesting to vine cultivation in the area is dated 3 June 972 and records the lease of vineyards in the locality of Meirana granted by the Bishop of Genoa. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• In 1659 correspondence between the castle of Montaldeo and the Marchese Doria mentions plantings of vines all of cortese, confirming the variety's longstanding historical use. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Vine-growing techniques have been handed down over the centuries, embedding in the territory the winemaking culture that unites the eleven communes of the appellation.

• The alternation between the argillaceous marls of the «terre bianche» and the «terre rosse» with their brown soils creates a pedological richness that adds nuance to the expression of the Cortese variety.
• The low yields that these soils — poorly suited to other intensive crops — allow confer on the wines a distinctive vigour and complexity.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• Specification (EUR-Lex, single document)
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A1310
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Tutela del Gavi