Gavi, home to Piedmont's top white wine, is only about a 60 mile drive from Barolo. Makes sense. What's surprising is that Gavi is even closer to Genoa on the Ligurian coast: less than 30 miles. It's easy to forget how small European countries are, we're so used to big distances here in America.

But you can actually taste that natural geography in La Mesma's Gavi di Gavi, “Indi.” It has definite coastal vibes: sunny fruit from its south-eastern exposure; a salty freshness from ocean breezes. But it remains decidedly Piedmontese in its complexity — Gavi's patchwork of soils helps, especially those rich in white limestone — and minerally finesse. It's wine from a crossroads, and marries two beautiful styles harmoniously.

The three sisters who run La Mesma called the wine "Indi" as a short form for indigenous yeast (it's fermented on an ambient yeast pied de cuve) but also because they think of their wine, like indie music, as being free of mainstream strictures. That's an especially useful attitude in Gavi, where mass-market wines did a lot to damage the reputation for serious quality that originally gave the region its prominence.

Doing things their way has brought them back to what made Gavi great in the first place and led them to make wines that, in the words of Eric Asimov in the NY Times, "are helping to resurrect the reputation of Gavi." They're getting some very good press these days. This kind of critical attention can often shift a wine away from being a great value, but for now, La Mesma's "Indi" remains astonishingly well-priced — especially with today's discounting. Don't wait to snap it up!

La Mesma, Gavi del Comune di Gavi "Indi", 2022 $27.99
When Asimov wrote about the 2018 he said it was "fragrant, with earthy lemon flavors, rich and textured, and balanced by lively acidity." That's spot on for this vintage too, although we also found the mineral notes noteworthy.