A Seafood Wine from Piedmont, Italy?
Yes! It’s Gavi di Gavi!

When it comes to pairing wine with seafood the usual options are Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Chenin Blanc and depending on the food option Chardonnay. This month we are thinking out of the box with our selection for seafood by choosing Gavi di Gavi.

Gavi comes from the Piedmont area of Italy and is made primarily with the Cortese grape. Piedmont is one of the great wine growing regions in Italy. More than half of its 170,000 acres of vineyards are registered with DOC designations. It produces prestigious wines as Barolo, Barbaresco and Moscato d'Asti. Indigenous grape varieties include Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Freisa, Grignolino and Brachetto. The region contains major industrial centers, notably Turin, home to the FIAT automobile works.

While Cortese-based wines are produced throughout the area the production is centered in the town of Gavi and only these wines can have the name Gavi on the label. While this wine is produced in the southeastern Piedmont region it really isn’t very far from the Ligurian coast and the Mediterranean Sea. Coat of arms of Comune di Gavi is situated between Genoa and Milan. Given this proximity to                Coat of Arms
the Mediterranean it is not a surprise that Italians love to pair this
wine with seafood dishes.

The Cortese grape produces a wine that has a straw color and a mild fruit aroma. It has very good acidity which contributes to its fine pairing with seafood. The one word that comes up many times when describing this Gavi wine is balance. In Comune of Gavi the flavor you will find this wonderful balance of fruit, acidity and alcohol.

Our Gavi wine of choice is the 2006 La Caplana Gavi di Gavi D.O.C.G. A very affordable wine at under $15.00, it has a pale yellow color with light green apple and melon aromas and fine mineral notes. The crispness of the wine gives it a very refreshing taste. This wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel which allows the 30-year-old vines to purely express themselves in the wine. The legend tells that Garibaldi drank their wine. The Guido family has overseen the vine growing and the wine production at La Caplana since the last century.

The old Vignavecchia vineyard at La Caplana was fortunately saved from the terrible "Phylloxera" that blighted the area in 1925, by Natalino Guido's grandfather, employing a novel graft on "American stubs." The care of La Caplana was then passed to Natalino's father Gerolamo, who kept on growing and planting vines on the high hills at Vignavecchia, which present considerable working difficulties due to the steep slopes. Today, Natalino Guido is proud to be 'at the helm' of La Caplana, keeping his family's dedication to their winemaking alive in his distinctive and satisfying wines.

This wine will indeed be a perfect match for this month's Tea Leaf Shrimp recipe. Its balance and acidity will compliment and enhance the variety of flavors in this meal. So breakaway from the normal seafood wine pairing and enjoy a little Gavi with this meal and many more to come. You will be amazed by Gavi’s versatility.

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