LA MESMA
Gavi, Italy
The Rosina sisters, Paola, Francesca, and Anna, grew up to follow varied walks of life (an art historian, a biologist, and a lawyer respectively) before deciding to purchase a summer home together, just five acres in Monterotondo in 2000. Their mother, Mariangela, thought it was crazy to own such idyllic property in Gavi without growing grapes, and she challenged the sisters to start a winery. Little did they know it would become their true calling over the ensuing decades. Now, nearly a quarter century on, the trio has honed their skills and are vinifying some of the finest Cortese in Gavi.
There is much for the restless wine geek to sink their teeth into among these verdant hills north of Genoa. The appellation is the southernmost in the Piedmont, and by far the closest to the Ligurian Sea, only about thirty kilometers. From sea level, it inclines quite steeply to the north, up to 300-350m in the Ligurian Apennine foothills. Striped from north to south, it is home to three distinct soil types: the red soils of northern Gavi (alluvial clay glacial deposits mixed with gravel), the "central belt" (alternating marls and sandstones as in Monterotondo), and the steeper south (where white marls mix with elevated ancient seabeds).
The countryside here benefits from markedly rainy winters and hot, dry summers: the perfect recipe for a thriving, viridescent landscape dotted with perfect golden bunches of Cortese. Having added to their estate the over years, most notably in 2004 when they purchased La Bella Alleanza, a picturesque property in Tassarolo, the Sisters Rosina now farm acreage in all three of Gavi's distinctive terroirs. They coax from their vines an energy and intensity uncommon even in the zone's most heralded bottlings.
In all, the La Mesma holdings now amount to 100 hectares, but only 25 of them are planted to vine, and the sisters plan to keep it that way. Among its considerable charms, the hills of Gavi are teeming with forestry and wildlife, and they have no designs at limiting that biodiversity and the viticultural benefits that come with it. The vineyards range in age from 15 to 55 years and are all certified organic.
While the Rosina sisters have long favored a minimalist methodology, they are not dogmatic beyond their firm belief in organic viticulture and are unapologetically scientific in the winery. They embrace temperature control, working primarily with refrigerated steel or glass-lined cement tanks, to preserve delicate phenols and protect them from oxidation, preserving aroma. They opt for a pied de cuve over the spontaneous fermentation route as a means of incorporating native yeasts (the stunning "INDI" bottling has been the testing ground for the effects of this last practice) - here they can nurture the expression of naturally occurring cultures without any uninvited microbial guests. S02 is added at bottling only in minimal quantities. At each step, decisions are made with intention and with the goal of letting the fruit and terroir express itself first and foremost.