On a cool, overcast morning in Alta Langa, Giovanni Gaja steps onto the terrace of his family’s new winery, 650 meters above sea level, and gestures toward the rolling landscape below. “Alta in Italian means high,” he says. “Alta Langa literally means high Langa, because it starts at 500 meters and grows up to 900 meters of altitude. And if you look around, you can see that it’s very wild.”
From this ridge, 20 minutes up winding roads from Gaja’s Barbaresco winery, the view stretches across hillsides of hazelnut groves and woodlands that define this remote corner of southern Piedmont. Unlike Barolo and Barbaresco — where 80 percent of the land is planted to vines — here the balance is reversed. “In Alta Langa you have 60 percent of biodiversity — woods, hazelnut trees, scattered vineyards,” Gaja says. “Sometimes you really have to look for them because they’re so hidden.”
This untouched character is part of what drew the Gaja family here. In 2015, they purchased 30 hectares of hazelnut groves to launch what has become one of Piedmont’s most ambitious white wine projects. “We took out the hazelnuts and let the soil rest for three years because hazelnuts release a lot of toxins — they take a lot of energy from the soil,” Giovanni recalls. “We had to reestablish the vigor of the land before planting.” In 2018, the family began replanting — 90 percent Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc — with grapes from those young vines now going into Gaja’s existing set of white wines.
White wine is not a new obsession for the Gaja’s — it’s the renewal of an existing one. In the late 1970s, Angelo Gaja became the first vintner in Piedmont to plant Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc on a serious scale, defying local convention. His wines — Gaia & Rey, Alteni di Brassica, and Rossj-Bass — which are grown in the Langhe and sell for $125 to $445 a bottle for new releases, proved that Piedmont could yield white wines with complexity and longevity.
Aldo Sohm, wine director at New York’s three-Michelin-stared seafood restaurant Le Bernardin, calls Angelo’s work with whites in the region “pioneering,” noting that he’s tasted through vintages of these wines from the 1980s. “These wines age extremely well,” says Sohm, who also co-owns the Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, and is author of the forthcoming book Wine Simple, Perfect Pairings (Clarkson Potter). “They always introduced thoughtful oak use, making them more approachable while still maintaining their own distinct character. Critics caught up to them very quickly and praised them, recognizing they were truly onto something.”
A New Altitude for Fine White Wine
The family’s decision to plant at 650 meters (about 2,100 feet) represents both a continuation of Angelo Gaja’s pioneering spirit and an acknowledgment of the challenges of climate change. At this altitude, the microclimate is drastically different from the valleys below — summer days may be hot in Barbaresco, but in Alta Langa the nights turn cool, with temperatures several degrees lower on average.
Alta Langa is known for its sparkling wines, as the grapes grown here tend to have high acidity — but for still wines, balance will be key. “We planted Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc because we have 40 years of experience with these varieties,” Giovanni says. “For still wines, we need ripeness — and we believe Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc can mature even at this elevation.”
The project is as much about experimentation as it is about family tradition. Ten percent of the vineyard has been devoted to other varieties: Timorasso, Riesling, Incrocio Manzoni, and Erbaluce, with small test plots of Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo. “We just wanted to see what we could achieve even with red varieties at this elevation,” Giovanni says, adding that 2023 marked the first small harvest from the experimental plots. For the Timorasso, Pinot Bianco, and Riesling, this was the first year of production. “We’re keeping them all in separate tanks to see what we can achieve,” Giovanni says.
Climate, Resilience, and Respect for the Land
In the new vineyards, the rows ripple across the hillside like ocean waves. “We wanted to respect the natural shape of the hill,” Giovanni explains. “Usually, when you plant a vineyard, you level everything on the same slope, but that causes erosion. Instead, we decided to keep the shape of the hill. We lost 25 percent of plantable land, but at least we have less issues with erosion.”
As climate pressures mount, the viticultural timetables around Piedmont are changing. “Hail in September is not normal,” Giovanni says, describing a recent storm that destroyed part of their Nebbiolo crop. The white grapes were safe, as they were already harvested. “Usually, you can have hail in July or August, not in September,” Giovanni says. “That shows how unpredictable the weather has become.”
In response, the family has embraced agroforestry and water management techniques that are unusual in Italian viticulture. “We started a project called Agroforestazione with the University of Torino,” he explains. “The goal is to introduce trees between vineyards — to attract new insects, provide shade, and help retain water.” Between the vines on the hill behind us, 800 native trees have been planted — poplars, oaks, and other local species — to adapt to emerging conditions and maintain the biodiversity of the area.
The same philosophy applies to managing rainfall. “Climate change means we get the same total rainfall as before, but it comes in fewer, more violent storms,” Giovanni says. “We built French drains and small dams between the vineyards. These slow the water down, create little puddles, and let the soil absorb it slowly. They even help cool the microclimate.”
Each vineyard row is terraced for further stability. “It makes work safer for tractors and also slows the flow of rainwater,” he adds. “Everything is designed for resilience.”
Continuing a Family Legacy
Now, Giovanni and his siblings Gaia and Rossana are extending that legacy upward into the region’s high hills. All of Gaja’s white wine production has moved to the state-of-the-art Alta Langa winery, which has the capacity to make 250,000 to 350,000 bottles a year. It was designed and built by the family’s longtime architect Giovanni Bo.
The new estate joins Gaja’s other properties in Barbaresco, Montalcino, Bolgheri, and Sicily, but it may prove to be the most forward-looking as climate change accelerates and consumer preferences shift. “We believe a lot in white wines,” Giovanni says. “This is a tribute to white wine. We built this brand new winery only for the production of whites.”
Gaja is not the only winery to see the potential for world-class white wines in the area. Contratto (La Spinetta) and Mirafiora (Fontana Fredda) already make sparkling wines here, and others, like Pio Cesare, have acquired land. “Take pictures of Alta Langa today, because in ten or fifteen years it will be a different landscape,” Giovanni predicts.
The sentiment captures the essence of the Gaja brand as both pioneer and guardian of tradition. Giovanni Gaja — like his father before him — seems to see not just what Piedmont is, but what it might become.