La Scolca Gavi Il Valentino DOCG

La Scolca was founded by Giovambattista Parodi, the great-grandfather of the current owner, in 1919. The La Scolca estate occupies 50 hectares and is located on a hill in the Ligurian Apennines. The first vineyard was planted by Parodi's son, Alfredo, shortly before the outbreak of World War II and was initially intended for the production of ordinary homemade wines. However, it was only Vittorio Soldati, the representative of the third generation of owners, who was able to realize the great potential inherent in these lands. Although Piedmont is a traditional red wine region, Soldati decided to focus on producing white wines, for which he was rewarded with outstanding results. The true potential of the local Cortese grape variety was only revealed when serious work began with it, determining the minimum yield per vine and optimal ripeness. In 1950, the first bottle of Gavi wine was released, which essentially became the first white wine produced in Piedmont. Since then, a new high-quality Italian white wine has appeared on the wine lists of the best restaurants in the world. For a long time, the wine list of the legendary Orient Express restaurant car, which contained about 20 names, included famous wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne, but only two wines represented Italy, one of which was Gavi dei Gavi from La Scolca. Until 1978, La Scolca wines were supplied to the Iranian Shah, and in the palace, Gavi wine was served to the Shah in tea bowls. It is known that Tom Cruise not only loves Gavi wine but also believes it brings him luck; it was the only white wine at his last wedding. At the British Embassy in Rome, the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II was celebrated in 2007 and 2008 only with wines from La Scolca. In 2007, La Scolca Millesimato sparkling wine was the official wine of the Nobel Prize ceremony.