Gavi – Piemonte's quiet white

La Raia's vineyards in Gavi, Italy

There's more to Gavi than you might think. Above, the vineyards of La Raia, a biodynamic estate that produced one of this report's top wines.

Wine geeks are such a fun bunch to poke fun at – all our swirling and spitting and obsessing over the liquid in our glass; all the work we put into determining where the wine comes from, measuring climate and categorising soils, calculating elevation and slope and aspect and searching for details on farming methods and fermentation styles. I mean, it’s just wine, people! You’re supposed to drink it and enjoy it, right?

But lately...