Michele Chiarlo Rovereto Gavi di Gavi 2025
£20.45
The wine
From one of the best sub-zones in Gavi, this wine is intensely fragrant with hints of white flowers, peach and pear, culminating in a spicy finish of white pepper and mineral notes. Incredible length.
Gavi di Gavi is the tighter designation within the appellation, restricted to fruit grown in the commune of Gavi itself, and Rovereto is one of its best-regarded sub-zones. Higher altitude and white marl soils give Cortese more mineral definition and greater length here than the wider Gavi zone typically manages.
The producer
Michele Chiarlo
View all Michele Chiarlo winesFounded at Calamandrana in 1956 and now run by Michele Chiarlo's sons Alberto and Stefano, this is one of Piedmont's most decorated houses. Michele himself came from a family of growers in the Monferrato and built the estate outward from Barbera country into the great Nebbiolo hills.
The family hold parcels in two of the finest Barolo crus, Cannubi and Cerequio, and in La Court at Nizza, the small appellation carved out of Barbera d'Asti in 2014 for its best hillside sites. Every vineyard is farmed sustainably to Equalitas certification. The house philosophy is that oak should be used judiciously so the vineyard speaks first, which in Piedmont has not always been the fashion.
Chiarlo has also done more than most to argue that Barbera deserves serious treatment rather than being the grape Piedmont drinks while waiting for its Nebbiolo. The Barolo and Barbera wines draw 90-plus scores from Wine Advocate, James Suckling and Wine Enthusiast year after year, and in 2025 Michele Chiarlo was named European Producer of the Year at the Sommelier Wine Awards.
