Discover the La Scolca brand: here’s our interview.

La Scolca is one of the symbolic companies of Gavi, always focused on Cortese, the native grape variety that has helped make it known worldwide. The estate was purchased in 1919 by the great-grandfather of Giorgio Soldati, father of Chiara Soldati, the fourth generation currently leading the company with an eye already on the third millennium.

Giorgio Soldati has proven to be a very talented and original innovative interpreter: he created successful wines and sparkling wines without ever betraying the loyalty to the land of Gavi and the Cortese grape variety. But the hardest task he took on, together with the family, was to maintain the leadership the company gained over the years, further strengthening the image and fame of La Scolca with a wholly Piedmontese will and the philosophy of achieving the highest possible quality.

The vineyards of La Scolca extend over 64 hectares and, among the various plots, the one in the municipality of Rovereto Chiesa could be defined as the "grand cru" of Cortese.
The farm has its vineyards in the most beautiful locations of Rovereto Chiesa, and its Gavi dei Gavi represents the pinnacle of the wine produced in this microzone. But this exhilarating result does not solely derive from the fortunate positioning of the vines; it is also the result of particularly fortunate winemaking and viticultural practices, which allow it, on equal terms with other vineyards in the area, to have an edge.

We love these realities, these producers of unique, certified, and multi-awarded delicacies: they are true treasures nestled in our Peninsula between seas and mountains and in the most remote streets of villages and countryside. We do not stop at simply enjoying their products, but we want to discover more closely the protagonists of this brand. That is why we sent some questions to those who manage communications with us.

Stay with us to learn about La Scolca: read the answers!

• Who are we talking to?
  Chiara Soldati, CEO La Scolca.
   
• Is the company family-run?
  La Scolca, opened in the hills of Gavi in the first decade of the 1900s by the Soldati family, is a brand with over 100 years of history, known in more than 50 countries and present in the best restaurants in the world. The fourth generation of the family, represented by me, is successfully leading it today, focusing on a constant attention to contemporary values of sustainability and digital innovation, making it one of the most advanced companies in the Italian wine scene, ensuring its wines have a timeless quality.
   
• Who was the founder, in what year, and what was his background or which work and professional field did he come from if different from the current one?
  La Scolca was founded in 1919, the year in which the founder of our family decided to purchase what was originally a hunting estate, with large wooded properties that also included red grape vineyards. However, the family preferred white wines and mainly French sparkling wines, leading to the choice to uproot the red grape and plant Cortese, to create a wine as close as possible to Chablis and later sparkling it. Initially, production was for family use, the business was different, but in the post-war period, it was decided to invest in a production line, bottling, labeling, and starting commercialization.
   
• What is the true reason or triggering fact behind the birth of this company, and when did it happen?
  “Nothing makes more sense than passion”: to fully live one's life and work, one cannot overlook having as a driving force and inspiration a great emotion. Wine for me is a great passion that repeats itself every year during the harvest. A cycle that renews itself, bringing with it a fascinating joy in seeing the fruit of many months of work come to life. The same passion felt in proposing and describing a special world hidden behind every tasting, the same passion and tenacity that has brought La Scolca to the fifth generation.
   
• What is your relationship with the land of origin and its uniqueness? And why do you want to tell it through your products?
  The 102 years of our history tell the deep DNA of our identity, made of a lot of passion, courageous and never conventional choices to look ahead and anticipate the times without betraying our origins, as we have always done since 1919, the year the company was founded. A century of investments in our territory, Gavi, in which we firmly believed, without compromises, and with the desire to experiment and always grow. It was my father Giorgio Soldati who strongly wanted the Doc in 1974 and the Docg in 1998, founded the Gavi Consortium, and became its first president. La Scolca registered the trademark Gavi dei Gavi in 1969, which has now become a must worldwide.
  For us, it is essential to let the world, especially new generations, know the richness and uniqueness of our land, Gavi, with its biodiversity and landscape tradition. This is also an important value for us, which we carry forward with continuous investments in agricultural practices respectful of the territory and in cutting-edge machinery to ensure increasingly sustainable production methods.
   
• What was the first product you created?
  The Gavi dei Gavi, ambitiously thinking of creating a great Italian chablis.
   
• What is the product that you consider “flagship” today?
  There are two symbolic wines of the company, impossible to forget once tasted.
  Our icon wine, the most representative of our history, is undoubtedly the Gavi dei Gavi Etichetta Nera, made from 100% Cortese grapes, chosen by renowned restaurants and celebrities worldwide to celebrate special moments, unforgettable for the complexity and elegance of the aromas and the long, intense taste, a wine that best interprets our idea of innovation and style, a great classic beyond trends and patterns.
  The other symbolic wine of the company is the “Brut D’Antan” (100% Cortese), our fine sparkling wine, produced only in the best vintages through the traditional method of sparkling wine with long aging in the bottle (at least 10 years) in contact with selected native yeasts.
   
• And which product has most carried the beating heart, philosophy, and soul of the company itself throughout its history?
  Wine is passion, anticipation, attention to detail, and for this reason, only in the best vintages, after at least 10 years of aging in our cellar, can the journey of extraordinary wines like La Scolca D’Antan and La Scolca Spumante Riserva D’Antan begin. Wines that excite, that amaze, because they juxtapose a delicate fragrance with a strong character, a great personality: they are unique products.
  In a world that makes speed and globalization a must, we have understood the importance of the value of time, waiting, and the awareness that certain results are only achieved through a great search for excellence and a lot of time.
  They are wines of origins, wines of lost time, wines that bring back scents and aromas of memory. They have the soul of a child but the heart of an adult, with a strong personality and great character, style, and elegance.
   
• Let’s talk about today: how much has the company grown since its inception? Can we have some figures?
  Vineyard hectares today: 50 ha.
  Number of bottles produced: it depends on the vintages, but about a million bottles a year.
  Grape varieties cultivated: primarily Cortese.
  Vineyard management: we follow biodynamic principles.
  Exporting countries: we are present in over 60 countries today.
   
• At this moment: more tradition or more innovation?
  La Scolca is a contemporary company that looks to the future with a pioneering and innovative spirit. Over the years we have never stopped and have continued to invest to improve our competitiveness to face the challenges of global markets and always ensure high standards of excellence. At the same time, we have a great history that distinguishes us, like the strong bond with the soil and our land and the unmistakable style of our wines that we have always produced without compromises and without yielding to current trends.
   
• What has been the most important evolution of the company to reach what it is today?
  Our evolution has been continuous, a result of a lot of passion, dedication, tenacity, commitment, and investments. Certainly, a significant milestone was the registration of the Gavi dei Gavi brand in 1969, now known worldwide; but fundamental were also the foresight and promptness in the 90s to seize all the opportunities offered by new technologies and digital communication during a historical phase of epoch-making change and great transformations in the global market; this initiative has made La Scolca one of the most dynamic and avant-garde companies in the wine sector today.
   
• Speaking of the future: what tomorrow awaits the company? Are there any changes or new evolutionary processes planned?
  We have many ongoing projects that we are pursuing. In the past year, not only have we never stopped, but we have made new investments and launched new projects, including our own e-commerce, the eWine Club with personalized experiences for customers and wine lovers, new tailor-made wine experiences in the cellar and at the estate to promote a new concept of hospitality that enhances the collaboration and integration between the excellences our territory can offer, with a view to building a true tailor-made wine experience. The new offer meets the needs of all kinds of audiences: from those who prefer walking or hiking in an e-bike to golf enthusiasts, to those who want to practice yoga on the panoramic terrace, to those who want to organize a picnic among the vineyards.
   
• Do you plan to create new products?
  This year we have just launched “Solui”, a new wine created with Sauvignon grapes and a blend of Piedmontese white grapes (grapes strictly 100% La Scolca). A wine to look to the future, but with the solidity that 102 years of history confer to the family brand. A different wine but in line with the style of the excellent Gavi, which has always been and forever will be the core business of La Scolca for 100 years.
  A unique product, a soloist among the Gavi, a wine with the courage to dare, representing a great exception and counter-trend choice, to communicate once again the futuristic projection of the brand, which positively embraces, without ever stopping, even in the most difficult times, the great changes in the world and brings them into the world of wine.
  The desire to experiment always accompanies us, so I do not rule out that in the coming months we may develop new products again!
   
• Having focused on Spaghetti & Mandolino, how important is online sales to you, what has your relationship with this sales channel been in the past, and how do you see it in the future?
  Already for years, e-commerce has been becoming an important sales channel. Today, with the experience of the pandemic, it has had an irreversible acceleration to the point of becoming essential to maintain market share. We have chosen to invest in this channel by launching our online store this year - in addition to being present, of course, in the main Italian and international marketplaces - and creating the La Scolca e-wine Club, a tailor-made experience open to all wine lovers with registration on our dedicated webpage. With registration, it is possible to access dedicated and exclusive services such as purchasing customizable products and in formats reserved for members – such as the Magnum of Gavi dei Gavi Etichetta Nera - special offers and pre-sales – such as the new Solui – and participation in unique events and experiences including: tours in the cellar and at the La Scolca estate with tastings of reserves and rare vintages, special tastings, and pre-purchase of limited edition bottles.
   
• Value: what was, what is today, and what will it be in the future for your company?
  We are a historic company that approaches reality and contemporaneity with a strong sense of social responsibility and commitment to respect for the environment and the ecosystem, today fundamental issues especially for new generations.
  I always emphasize that “the value of La Scolca is the value of a company that produces”, and this means for us that the value linked to wine is a deep value just like the root of the vine that we preserve by applying the techniques and philosophy of biodynamics. We work the land without chemical additives, without herbicides and chemical products, and we only use natural products such as sulfur and copper, and in this way, we can guarantee the protection of the vineyard. Because for us, the land is a heritage to be passed down, not to be exploited merely as a business.
  And what distinguishes our company and our family is the tenacity and courage to remain true to themselves while experimenting and evolving: just like the original idea of the founder to create a great white wine also for aging and, from this perspective, to be innovators.

S&M