WHO: Tacchino
WHAT: Cortese (Gavi di Gavi DOCG)
WHERE: Gavi, Piedmont, Italy
TASTING NOTES: A sleek dry white with a crisp and characteristically long, chalky finish that frames lemon, apple, melon, and straw flavors
PAIRING NOTES: Pasta, Shellfish, Cured meats, soft cheese, lean fish
About the Grape:Cortese is a white grape variety that is most famous for its role in the crisp, lime-scented wines of Gavi. The variety is known for its bracingly high acidity and its ability to retain freshness, even when grown in hot environments. Apple, peach and honeydew flavors are commonly associated with Cortese wine, with lime, almond and light herbal or grassy aromas.
The variety has been grown in the southeastern part of Piedmont for hundreds of years, and is mentioned in documents that date back to the beginning of the 17th Century. It has long been considered as Piedmont's finest white variety and is often credited as introducing the world to Italian white wine. Nowadays, however, it has been usurped somewhat by Arneis and Moscato d'Asti.
While Gavi wines are the grape's most famous incarnation, a few varietal wines are made from Cortese in other parts of Piedmont: namely Cortese dell'Alto Monferrato and Colli Tortonesi. It is blended into Bianco di Custoza wines alongside Trebbiano and Garganega, and is also found in Oltrepo Pavese wines from Lombardy to the east.
Cortese must be watched carefully in the vineyard to ensure success: it is a vigorous, productive vine and if yields are not kept in check then the wines can be bland and lacking in character. Ripeness is another key issue – while it does well in Gavi's warm environs, it can struggle to ripen fully in other parts of Piedmont. This leads to wines with almost unmanageably high acidity, which is why Cortese is used more often as a minor blending grape outside of its home town.
About the Producer:For more than three generations the Tacchino family has produced superb fresh and vibrant wines in Castelletto d’Orba in Monferrato, Piedmont. This is perfect wine country as the hills provide a natural amphitheatre which protects the vineyards from the northerly winds. Alessio and Romina represent the new Tacchino generation and have certainly inherited their father’s and grandfather’s passion. This passion and respect for tradition is harmoniously blended with modern wine-making methods and equipment and a rigorous attention to detail, resulting in a range of wines of outstanding elegance and purity. Tacchino’s vines are spread over 25 hectares, about half of which benefit from a south/south-easterly aspect and great care is taken to restrict yields.
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