Picollo Ernesto, Gavi di Gavi, Rovereto 2023

There's Gavi and then there's Picollo.

And then... there's Picollo's Gavi di Gavi - from the very heart of the commune of Gavi in a small townland called Rovereto, 260 metres above sea-level and yielding some of the most excellent Cortese grapes anywhere in the world. This is a more intense and complex version of the best-selling Gavi and for only a smidgen more money, you really can taste one of the best wines in the region.

This is the best producer of Gavi I know and when I go to meet producers from other regions they will often ask if I know the wines of Picollo Ernesto. Now, Cortese might not be the best grape in the world, but, because of the law of the land, it is the only grape in Gavi. So, getting the most out of the slightly unremarkable grape demands real attention and dedication. The results that Picollo achieves give us this gorgeous, fresh lively wine with apple and citrus notes and white flowers.

Established in 1945, the winery is now in the hands of Ernesto the third and continues in very much the same way as his father and grandfather had done before. That is working in the commune of Rovereto in the heart of Gavi, where the difficult soils are capable of generating expressive and mineral wines from the Cortese grapes. Without pesticides and practising organic viticulture, the estate's 7 hectares are on a mixture of slopes facing south and south west, allow the Picollos to get the right blend for their expression of the appellation.