While I was at my local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, enjoying a couple of Franciacorta wines, the salesman, like a good salesman produced two other wines for the owner, the staff and lucky me. The next two wines were from Cascina La Doria; and the Cascina or farmhouse is located in the commune of San Cristoforo, three kilometers from Gavi.

The first wine was Cascina La Doria Gavi DOCG 2020 from the commune of San Cristoforo.  The wine is pure Cortese, sometimes referred to as Cortese de Gavi, and Gavi DOCG is not to be confused with Gavi di Gavi DOCG which is (Cortese de) Gavi di (Commune del) Gavi. The Cortese vines were first recorded in 1659 and in 1856 the first major estate of Cortese grapes was established.  Gavi DOC was created in 1974 and in 1998 was Gavi DOCG.  In 2002, the Consortium for the Protection of Gavi decreed that genetically modified vines would not be allowed.  The wines from the commune of San Cristoforo for La Doria are about twenty years in age planted on Calcareous-Clay soil.  The grapes are gentle pressed and the fermentation takes place in Stainless Steel vats without the skins.  Then the wine is aged for six months in Stainless Steel before bottling.  The straw-colored wine offered notes of pears and citrus fruits.  On the palate the fruit is very fresh and dry, with a nice medium finish of minerals (terroir).  A very pleasant wine, ideal for fish and sea food.   

The second wine was Cascina La Doria Villa Lanata Vineyards Moscato D’Asti DOCG 2020 and the only other wine offered by the Farmhouse.  Moscato D’Asti is from the Piedmont region of Italy and from vineyards near the town of Asti, which includes fifty communes. The varietal for this wine is the Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains, also known as Moscato Bianco in Italy and is the oldest of the Muscat grape family; and was recorded in the Piedmont in the 13^th Century.  Villa Lanata Vineyards is owned by Cascina La Doria and is fifteen hectares in size and was planted in 1990, so on the average the vines are now thirty-years of age and planted on alluvial soil. The first vintage of this wine was in 2019.  This straw-colored wine offered notes of pear and citrus and floral sweetness.  The wine on the palate is “dry” with citrus and fruit tones, very fresh with a finish that I call frizzante (at least that was the term I was taught years ago) for a “fizzy” finish with a touch of sweet and savory with the minerally terroir.  Very pleasant either before or after a nice dinner.