Azienda Vitivinicola Travaglini Giancarlo
Travaglini's historic Gattinara DOCG is 100% Nebbiolo from iron-rich soils below Monte Rosa, aged two years in Slavonian oak. Garnet and savoury: violet, red cherry, tar and a ferrous mineral edge over fine tannins. A Piedmont Nebbiolo benchmark.
Garnet and savoury, this is classic Alto Piemonte Nebbiolo: floral violet over leather, tar and the ferrous mineral edge of Gattinara's iron-rich soils below Monte Rosa.
Garnet with the delicate transparency Travaglini's Gattinara is known for. The nose opens floral, violet and rose petal, then adds spiced and balsamic depth, closing on a mineral, faintly ferrous note that the iron-rich Monte Rosa soils lend. Red cherry and raspberry sit underneath.
Rose petal
Violet
Cherry
Raspberry
Tar
Wet stones
Leather
LiquoriceStructured but not heavy at 13.5%, with the fresh acidity and fine, lightly sketched tannins that two years in Slavonian oak botti coax from Nebbiolo. Red cherry, raspberry and a savoury leather-and-tar edge carry through, mineral rather than oaky.
Long and savoury, red fruit and spice over a stony, iron-tinged close that holds Gattinara's northern Piedmont signature.
Travaglini's historic flagship from the appellation's benchmark grower, this is classic Alto Piemonte Nebbiolo: 4.0 on Vivino across thousands of ratings, loved for its savoury, mineral profile and fine tannins. Drink the structured 2021 from 2025 and the rounder 2022 a little sooner, and decant either.
Tracked across UK retailers, the current 2021 and 2022 vintages sit between roughly £31 and £40 a bottle.
How this Gattinara rates for food, value, ageing and occasion, scored from its Nebbiolo structure, DOCG ageing and current UK price.
Bright acidity and fine tannins make Gattinara a versatile food red, from braised beef to truffle and game.
DOCG-mandated cask ageing, firm tannins and proven long-lived vintages give real cellar potential, especially the structured 2021.
A DOCG from one of Piedmont's most respected Nebbiolo appellations, well suited to a special dinner or a gift.
At about £31 for the flagship grower of the appellation, it offers serious Alto Piemonte Nebbiolo well below Barolo pricing.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our editorial methodology.
A compact view of what the Gattinara denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
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The cooler, age-worthy 2021 scored in the low-to-mid 90s with critics; the warmer 2022 is rounder and drinks sooner.
A warm, dry 2022 growing season in Alto Piemonte gave a riper, rounder Gattinara. The tannins are firm but accessible, drinking well from 2026 into the late 2030s.
2021 was a benchmark northern Piedmont vintage, cooler and slow-ripening, giving a tense, age-worthy Gattinara that critics scored in the low-to-mid 90s. Built for the cellar through the late 2030s.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Travaglini farms 59 hectares below Monte Rosa as the appellation's largest grower, and patented its curved dark-glass bottle, designed to trap sediment, in 1958.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Gattinara is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Gattinara falls within Piedmont , covering Gattinara · Vercelli.
Travaglini's 59 hectares of steep Gattinara hillside below Monte Rosa demand manual work and yield concentrated, mineral fruit, lifting cost above flatland reds.
Holding each vintage about three years, two in large Slavonian casks plus bottle time, ties up cellar space and capital long before the wine reaches its roughly £31 to £40 shelf price.
Gattinara DOCG ranks among northern Piedmont's most prestigious appellations, and Travaglini's benchmark reputation supports pricing near £40 for older vintages.
The 1958-patented curved bottle that traps sediment is a bespoke mould, a small but real packaging premium over a standard bottle.
UK excise duty of £2.67 plus 20% VAT account for several pounds of the roughly £31 entry price before the retailer's margin.
Competition among multiple UK sellers from about £31 keeps the everyday vintage keenly priced for a DOCG Nebbiolo of this standing.
Dishes that complement this wine
Firm tannins and fresh acidity make it a natural with Piedmontese brasato, truffle and porcini, and game; aged hard cheese works, fiery spice does not.
Nebbiolo's firm, fine-grained tannins bind to the protein and gelatin in long-braised beef and veal, softening on the palate while fresh acidity lifts the richness. Brasato cooked in Nebbiolo is the textbook regional match.
Try with: Brasato al Barolo · Ossobuco alla Milanese · Fiorentina steak · More pairings →
Gattinara's tar, dried-rose and forest-floor aromatics mirror the earthy perfume of white truffle and porcini, an aromatic bridge rather than a contrast. The wine's acidity keeps a buttery risotto from cloying.
Try with: Tagliatelle al tartufo di Acqualagna · Porcini mushroom risotto · Truffle risotto · More pairings →
Medium-bodied but persistent, Gattinara matches the lean, gamey intensity of pheasant, duck and venison without overwhelming it, while its savoury leather note echoes the meat.
Try with: Roast Pheasant · Venison Stew · Roast Duck · More pairings →
Bright acidity slices through the buttery, meat-stuffed richness of agnolotti and the fat of a slow lamb ragu, refreshing the palate between bites. A classic primo pairing in its home region.
Try with: Agnolotti del Plin · Agnello Ragu Lucano · More pairings →
Tannin and acidity cut the fat and salt of aged hard cheese, while Nebbiolo's red-fruit core balances the savoury intensity. Keep to firm matured styles rather than soft or blue.
Try with: Cheese board · Strong cheddar cheese · Lancashire Cheese · More pairings →
Capsaicin in fiery Sichuan or sweet-and-sour dishes amplifies Nebbiolo's tannin and alcohol, turning the wine hard and bitter, and creamy blue cheese collides with its firm structure. Save Gattinara for savoury, earthy plates.
Skip with: Szechuan beef · Crispy chilli beef · Sweet and sour pork · Blue cheese · Pairing guide →
Two years in Slavonian oak and Nebbiolo's structure give the 2021 a window into the late 2030s; decant younger bottles.
Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
DOCG-mandated cask ageing, firm tannins and proven long-lived vintages give real cellar potential, especially the structured 2021.
£25.57 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 7 Jun 2026, 14:57 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumIt is 100% Nebbiolo, known locally in northern Piedmont as Spanna. Travaglini grows it on the porphyry, granite and iron-rich slopes of Gattinara, below Monte Rosa.
Each vintage matures for about three years, of which two are in large Slavonian oak casks, followed by at least three months in bottle before release. The long cask ageing softens Nebbiolo's tannins while keeping its floral, mineral character.
Garnet in the glass, it leads with violet, rose petal and red cherry, then turns savoury with leather, tar and a ferrous mineral note. The palate is structured, with fresh acidity, fine silky tannins and a long finish of red fruit and spice.
It suits Piedmontese braised meats such as brasato and ossobuco, truffle and porcini dishes, game birds and aged hard cheese. The tannin and acidity cut through fat while the earthy notes mirror mushroom and truffle.
Giancarlo Travaglini patented the curved dark-glass bottle in 1958. The curve sits in the palm and helps trap sediment when pouring, while the dark glass shields the wine from light.
Travaglini is the largest and most recognised grower in Gattinara, a DOCG that ranks among Piedmont's finest Nebbiolo appellations after Barolo and Barbaresco. Recent vintages such as 2021 have drawn scores in the low-to-mid 90s, and UK prices of about £31 to £40 make it strong value for cellar-worthy Nebbiolo.
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