Wine of the week: a truly sublime Gavi

2018 Gavi di Gavi, Lugarara, La Giustiniana, Piemonte, Italy

£18.49, £16.49 each if you buy six bottles, thewinereserve.co.uk; £17.80, toscanaccio.co.uk; £15.95, dunells.com; £15.15, exelwines.co.uk; £15.18, thedrinkshop.com

Back in 2012 I published a book, 100 Most Iconic Wine Estates. It was a devilish task whittling down my favourite wineries to the final century of greats. Over the intervening eight years I cannot seem to stop myself mentally editing this list of wineries as I taste and learn more about my beloved subject. I think that I might make as many as 25 changes if I were to repeat the exercise today. This shows just how fast the wine world evolves and it also reflects the slight changes I sense in my own tastes, too. I venture that La Giustiniana would make the grade.

This Gavi producer makes some of the most sensual and rewarding styles of white wine in Italy. Given the choice, I would plump for the top wine at this estate, the structured, age-worthy, single vineyard Montessora. The other day, I was dining at the brilliant Brinkley’s Kitchen in Wandsworth, London, and I ordered “2018 Gavi La Giustiniana” – there was no mention of any vineyard. When it arrived I was thrilled to note that it was my featured Lugarara, which is the more forward-drinking cuvée at this eminent estate. My goodness me it was sensational. It is the finest vintage of this single vineyard wine I have ever tasted.

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