Cortese

Cortese is the white grape of southeastern Piedmont, best known as the sole variety of Gavi, grown on the hills around the town of Gavi near the Ligurian border. It is valued for crisp, persistent acidity rather than aromatic power, giving pale, lean wines of green apple, lime, white flowers and almond, with a fine mineral finish. Most Gavi is made in steel and drunk young as a partner to seafood, pesto and the lighter dishes of Liguria, but old vines and longer lees aging produce more textured, age-worthy bottlings. Cortese also appears in the Colli Tortonesi and in Oltrepò Pavese.