La Scolca

How the Soldati family invented Gavi

La Scolca is the oldest winery in the small municipality of Gavi in the southern Piedmont, not far from the Ligurian border. Between 1917 and 1919, the great-grandfather of the current owner, Giorgio Soldati, acquired the estate — at that time still largely covered by forest. What began as a private estate became the nucleus of a viticultural history that would shape all of Italy. In a region where red wine traditionally dominated, the family made an unusual plan: to vinify the white Cortese grape as a single varietal and produce a wine of the highest quality from it. In 1966, Vittorio Soldati brought the first single-varietal Gavi to market — named after the village around which the vines grow. With this, La Scolca created a new category in Italian white wine. The term Gavi dei Gavi was eventually registered as a trademark, and the DOCG classification followed in 1998 as an official confirmation of what La Scolca had long been living. Today, Giorgio Soldati and his daughter Chiara run the winery in the tradition of several generations — with the ambition of bringing the character of the Cortese grape into the glass as precisely as possible.

Rovereto Superiore: Steep slopes, clay-limestone soil, and controlled vinification

La Scolca's vineyards are located in the high-altitude Rovereto Superiore di Gavi — a zone considered the best growing site for Cortese due to its soils and exposure. Deep clay and limestone soils with a high iron content give the grapes their characteristic minerality. The proximity to the Ligurian coast ensures a natural temperature balance: cool sea breezes slow down heat development in summer and preserve the acid structure of the Cortese berries. In the vineyard, La Scolca relies on strict manual harvesting with grape-by-grape selection; for the Etichetta Nera, the grapes come exclusively from vines over sixty years old. In the cellar, they work traditionally in stainless steel with temperature control — for the flagship, the wine remains on the lees until bottling, which gives it additional texture and depth. The range is complemented by the D'Antan, a reserve wine that is vinified according to the Méthode Classique as a sparkling wine and matures in the cellar for years before it comes to market.

Cortese in all its facets — from fresh white to Réserve-Blanc

La Scolca's range revolves almost exclusively around the Cortese grape, which is interpreted here in different styles and quality levels. The Etichetta Bianca stands for the fresh, accessible Gavi with a pale straw yellow, notes of white peach, green apple, and a fine almond line on the finish — a white wine for oysters, light pasta, or as an aperitif. The Etichetta Nera is the heart of the range: denser, more structured, with flint, hazelnut, and a long acidity that can carry the wine for years. Finally, the D'Antan shows what becomes of Cortese when you give it time — deep golden, with roasted notes and a creamy mouthfeel. In addition, La Scolca produces a Pinot Noir as well as rosé wines that prove the estate can do more than just the white classic. All wines are connected by a clearly recognizable signature: precise fruit, lively acidity, mineral pull — the unmistakable expression of the Rovereto sites, which La Scolca has been refining for over a hundred years.