Wine By Grape Variety | Cortese

Cortese is an Italian white wine grape variety grown predominantly in the south-eastern wine regions of Piedmont. The grape variety is known for its bracingly high acidity and its ability to retain freshness, even when grown in hot environments. It is most famous for its role in the crisp, lime-scented wines of Gavi. Apple, peach and honeydew flavours are commonly associated with Cortese wine, with lime, almond and light herbal or grassy aromas.

The variety has been grown in the southeastern part of Piedmont for hundreds of years, and is mentioned in documents that date back to the beginning of the 17th Century. It has long been considered as Piedmont's finest white variety and is often credited as introducing the world to Italian white wine. Nowadays, however, it has been usurped somewhat by Arneis and Moscato d'Asti.