Angelo Gaja In House Tasting 14th September 2011
Meeting the winemaker or owner of a vineyard is always a treat and a true educational experience. Meeting Angelo Gaja, however, is like encountering a force of nature. He delivers his knowledge with sense of passion and verve rarely encountered. He is incredibly engaging and very funny – I think the later is supposed to be intentional.
Both Angelo Gaja and Gaia Gaja were here to launch the 2008 Barbarescos and attend the Grand Marchi tasting and dinner at the Italian Embassy. Let’s discuss the wines...
All vineyards are at the mercy of mother nature, and nowhere can this be more so than in Piedmont. It has a marginal climate, although there are strong indicators that global warming has helped adorn Piedmont during the last 15 years with some spectacular vintages and very few poor ones. The Langhe can also suffer from horrendous hail storms, capable of decimating crops and excessive rain is not unheard of around harvest time, which in turn can dilute the noble Nebbiolo grape.
In 2008 a lot of rain fell on the Piedmont region during the spring and summer months, in fact rain fell on 40 out of 90 days to be precise and no one was expecting a good vintage. However, thanks to a long period of dry weather at the end of the season, producers are excited about their crop of Nebbiolo. The Nebbiolo harvest for many finished on or around October 28th, about 20 days later than the 2007 harvest. Fermentations were long, nearly four weeks in some cases, but the majority of the quality Barbarescos and Barolos are elegant rather than robust, have good acidity and soft round tannins.
2007 was considered by many to be a great vintage in Piedmont, showing real opulence, wonderfully glycerol fruit with deep rich cores of fruit. 2008 as I have already mentioned, has a much more elegant feel to it. For me personally this is a good thing. There is far more definition and precision to the fruit, the haunting aromatics we all search for are already finding their way out of the glass and I believe these wines will age incredibly gracefully.
Barbaresco DOCG 2008
The flagship wine from the Gaja family, which they have now been producing for 152 years. Even at this young stage in the wine’s evolution, it shows notes of lifted spice; the oak has a leafy lightness to it which is followed by an attack of delicate and fresh red fruit. All the elements are there in clear relief, and one can only imagine how sublime this wine will be once all the components have fully married.
Costa Russi DOC Langhe 2008
The spice in the Costa Russi seams a notch richer than the estate Barbaresco, and the fruit has an almost summer compote feel to it. Delicate floral and violet notes begin to emerge. A wonderfully silky texture greets the palate and the oak has a delicate spicy, almost fennel like twist to it. The tannins are soft and pliable and the finish lingers.
Sori Tildin DOC Langhe 2008
What struck me first with this wine is the striking burst of exotic, almost Indian, spice that leaps from the glass. The fruit seemed richer and more powerful, with a delicate savoury, almost meaty note. The tannins were a little deeper but were counterbalanced by the richer fruit and a spiced mocha finish.
Sori San Lorenzo DOC Langhe 2008
As expected, the San Lorenzo is a more brooding wine, which while exhibiting similar aromatics to the Sori Tildin is more muted and seems a little slower out of the blocks. There is a delicious attack of sweet berry fruit, and then the palate is introduced to hints of bright red currants, a whiff of earthy moss and Assam tea. The finish is surprisingly bright and clean but incredibly rich and long.
These are an incredibly impressive range of wines, which deserve to be in any serious collection of wines from this region or any other for that matter. In my opinion they offer the perfect balance between power and elegance, the hallmarks of great Nebbiolo. If Gaja can, in any way, be considered a modernist, it is the precision with which these wines have been made and in which each detail can be isolated and appreciated. However, there is no denying that this is a family proud of its long and important history and this comes through in these elegant, graceful and hauntingly beautiful wines.
Andrew Johnson, 15th September 2011
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