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Search For La Scolca
Various trips to Northern Italy have found the Editor being offered Gavi to taste, with comments that it is the best dry white wine in the country. Yet none of the wines have
proved exciting, until the recent arrival of samples sent by the enthusiastic Dr Giorgio Soldati, who operates the La Scolca estate.
La Scolca translates as a look-out post, but the looking has apparently come from other local growers, who have watched the modern development of this enterprising
estate, which has succeeded in becoming the inspirational leader for Gavi.
Gavi is a dry white wine from Piedmont in Northwest Italy, which really needed a local
flag-waver to raise its producers to higher standards. It is made from the Cortese varietal and for generations many local growers simply sold their grapes to giant
houses such as Martini & Rossi and Cinzano, for use in blended sparkling wines.
The Gavi appellation, which is situated in the Lemme Valley, is rich in clay, lime and
iron and many of the vineyards are planted on fairly steep slopes to a maximum altitude of roughly 1,450 feet. La Scolca has an estate of 125 acres and produces
around 300,000 bottles a year using the most advanced modern technology.
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La Scolca offers an attractive range with examples like Tenuta Valentino La Scolca Gavi DOCG. The word 'Tenuta' indicates a single estate and 'Valentino' is a small farm
belonging to the property. It is reminiscent of a classic dry white Graves, but with some restrained citrus notes.
The big surprise is the Millesimato or Vintage Brut sparkling wine; the 1987 is the
vintage currently available and it is a delicious, honeyed, yeasty and biscuity bubbly, which comes in a traditional and most eye-catching dumpy, narrow-necked bottle. At
around $38 it is a very worthwhile purchase. Unfortunately it is not yet imported into the USA.
One of La Scolca's most promising wines is the Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir) which has
good colour and a particularly attractive balance of fruit and acidity, with distinct cherry tones.
The most stunning La Scolca wine is its D'Antan Gavi (also not yet imported), which,
to my amazement, is aged in stainless steel for 9 years. After such a long period of maturation this is a dry white which really needs to breathe for several hours before
drinking. Our sample was consumed over a period of two days, and it had improved greatly by the second. It tastes rather like a great Fino sherry - but without the
fortification - and with distinctive nutty flavors. When matched with cheeses it was simply perfection with the creamy Vignotte, from France's Champagne region. It is
rather expensive at $68 but the cost of all those years of ageing has to be met, and it is a truly remarkable and unique wine.
Please visit our A-Z for reviews of 2 of La Scolca's Gavi wines which are available in the United States.
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Last updated on April 30, 2008