"I stumbled across Gianlorenzo from Casa Ernesto and his Gavi completely by chance at Vin Italy in 2019. I had spent the day in the Veneto hall where I had tasted over 80 full bodied reds from Amarone and Valpolicella. My teeth were red, my gums ached and my palate was battered and bruised, as were my feet! Internally I was screaming for a glass of something white and refreshing.
I was crossing the Piedmont hall on my march home when Gianlorenzo caught my eye. With a huge engaging smile he practically forced a glass into my hand and filled it with his Gavi. Aromatic with lovely white peach, cut flower, stone fruit flavours and texture backed up with a delicious mineral finish, it was exactly the tonic I needed.
Normally at the end of a long day tasting red wine, anything white is likely to taste like Batard Montrachet so I resolved to return the following day with a clear head and a fresh palate. On second tasting it was obvious to me that Gianlorenzo is a bit of a perfectionist and doesn’t make any old wine out of Cortese and the decision to purchase was simple.
Based in the Roverto in the commune of Gavi, with a small patch of vines in Tassorolo, Ernesto and family have been making wine out of the Cortese grape since 1945. When Ernesto took over the reins from his father, he modernised the winery and quickly introduced green harvesting to reduce yields and intensify the fruit aromas and flavours; their terroir did the rest. It is safe to say that it is pretty special Gavi, and we are rather proud to say we are the first merchant in the UK to ship it"
