A Word from our stores

La Luciana Gavi

December 12th 2020

Araldica is home to the finest wines of Piedmont with its Italian vineyards and winemakers taking pride of place at the heart of its work. It is a well known cooperative for being forward thinking and respective of the environment in its production of traditional wines. 

A cooperative is a group of local vineyard owners, otherwise known as members, that share an interest in producing and selling wines under one name. Araldica Vini was established in 1954 and has been associated with winemakers ever since. With up to 140 members that coordinate and guide the winemaking process, from harvesting each grape to bottling every unique blend, they remain a major wine supplier across the globe. Araldica stays true to its origins as each member possesses the same goal: to provide the most high quality grapes for the creation of important wines. Despite their size, the winery has a real family-run feel about them due to its husband and wife management of Claudio Manera and Lella Burdese.

The Araldica Group manages the estates of Il Cascinone, La Battistina and Tenuta Santa Seraffa. It is situated in Castel Boglione, a small village in between Asti and Acqui Terme in the region of Northern Italy. Its production process is distributed across up to 900 hectares of distinctive hilly land between Monferrato, Gavi, Langhe, and Roero. Their best varieties of wines are based on the microclimate and terroir of each individual vineyard. Every member also ensures that the landscape is protected by making sustainable production choices. With regards to innovation, the winery combines technology with respect for tradition to remain relevant as one of the richest Piedmontese heritages in the world. 

La Luciana Gavi is one of Araldica’s most cherished wines, as it was named after Luciana, the wife of La Battistina estate’s previous owner. This particular Piemonte wine is a white pinot grigio, produced from Piedmont’s main white grape variety, Cortese and cultivated on the Monferrato hills of Asti. The planting density on these hills are 4000 to 4500 vines per hectare homegrown in limestone-clay soil. This is what makes the Monferrato hills one of the most important wine districts of Italy. The vineyards are southwest facing and situated at altitudes of between 250 and 400m. The grapes for this northern Italian favourite are typically harvested in the last week of September. But what we are really interested in is the taste…

This vintage contains notes of citrus, lemon and lime as it is packed with zesty citrus fruit and light floral characters, with hints of apple and pear showing through smoothly. The fresh, steely acidity and underlying minerality is well balanced by notes of melon and stone fruit, and a touch of fennel and spice. Furthermore, 

As with all of their wines, Araldica believes in celebrating the quality of Piedmont wines, rather than focusing on exclusivity. Therefore, Gavi is an excellent white wine that everyone can afford. It’s not cheap nor common, it is perfectly simple yet effective and highly accessible to enjoy for any occasion.