Piedmont is the in the north-east of Italy and its name, which means 'foot of the mountains' explains perfectly its topographical position, nestled right up against the Alps. It's an area I drive right through more often than I stop, but there are places of much beauty to discover, as well as little jewels like the town of Ovada and its own eponymous wine.

Piedmont sits high in the constellation of wine-stars: it's the area that produces the finest Italian red wines, wines like Barbaresco and Barolo as well as many of second rank. As a result the whites of Piedmont have been relegated almost into oblivion. Apart from Asti Spumante and the Moscato - neither of which are much respected by Piedmontese gourmets, there really is only one grape that can claim any renown at all and that's the Cortese.

Traditionally the Cortese grape made a sour, thin mean little wine that tended to come in at around 10% of alcohol, so it really had little to recommend it. Even when it was well treated, as for example around the plains of Alessandria, it was still wont to spoil or sour soon after vinification, often through oxidisation. As a result it was a wine that was drunk young and was given little respect. Modern vinification techniques have had a huge impact on the use of the Cortese, because with modern technology it can be used to make a wine that retains all the crisp acidity of the traditional wines, but that now have a stability that allow for export and transportation.

In the townland of Gavi producers within the DOC can call their wines either Cortese di Gavi, or simply Gavi. The producers of Gavi have, over the years, preserved their name through more scrupulous production techniques than were employed in other parts of the Piedmont, and as a result you'll rarely see a wine called Cortese di Gavi, since any links to a base Cortese are likely to be seen as a bad thing by consumers.

Despite this deprecation of the Cortese, there is a Gavi that can cost as much as the great reds of the Piedmont - Gavi dei Gavi from the estate of La Scolca. I've had plenty of good Gavis in recent years on pit-stops in Piedmont, a couple I remember are the Tenuta San Pietro and the Tenuta la Giustiniana, both of which combined a certain elegance with the sharp bite so characteristic of the Cortese grape.

Wine of the Week

Gavi 2002, 'La Meirana', Broglia.

If ever a wine demonstrates what can be done with an underestimated grape, this is it. Even before you open the bottle you'll notice that this wine comes in at a healthy 12% alcohol. Next thing you'll notice as you sip it, is that it's very slightly 'petillant', that's to say there are tiny little bubbles just about visible which add a tingle to the tip of your tongue. This combined with its natural acidity gives it a really pleasing crisp, fresh taste that would make a perfect accompaniment to seafood.

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