Villa della Collina

The Collina family has lived on this hilltop since the 18th century, but it wasn't until 1985 that Luciano Collina decided to take winemaking seriously. Before then, the estate produced a rough white wine sold in demijohns to locals. Luciano saw potential where others saw limitation — the Cortese grape, often dismissed as simple, grown on chalky soils at altitude, with views stretching to the Ligurian Alps.

His gamble paid off. By the mid-1990s, Villa della Collina's Gavi was being poured at restaurants in Milan and Turin. The secret, Luciano insists, is the altitude — 380 metres — which preserves acidity and extends the growing season, giving the wines a complexity rare in Gavi. He picks late, ferments cool, and never uses oak. The result is a white wine of remarkable freshness and mineral depth.

Now managed by Luciano's son Roberto and his wife Francesca, the estate has expanded to ten hectares while maintaining the same meticulous approach. They've also introduced a rosato that has become a summer favourite across northern Italy. Villa della Collina proves that Gavi — so often underestimated — belongs in the conversation with Europe's great white wines.