Had the 2003 Dr. Pauly Bergweiler Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett last night... not acidified, and only 9% ABV. The wine was ripe and rich, but had developed a very petrol and orange-blossom nose. Very stony... drink it now as I don't think it's going to improve all that much... Also had a corked 2001 Dr. Burklin Wolf Kirchenstuck Riesling Spätlese Trocken... a shame... couldn't get anything on the nose but wet cardboard... nasty stuff, that TCA is.
Back to Italy... The next morning (Tuesday) we had the appointment I was most looking forward to on the entire trip... Gaja. After getting fabulous directions the night before, we managed to not get lost for the first time this trip and made it a few minutes early to the stronghold of Gaja (I mean that literally... as you walk up, there
is a very large, very industrial, metal door that slides open after you contact security to let you in). The town of Barbaresco was very small, but beautiful. Only 600 people reside in the town... The picture is the Barbaresco castle/ church. We took a tour of the facilites... Gaja was started in 1859 by Giovanni Gaja. The estate now owns some 27ha of vineyards (including the single-vineyards Sori San Lorenzo, Sori Tildin and Costa Russi, plus 14 others) in Barbaresco. All of the vines used in the production of Gaja wines are estate owned... They generally destem, have only one pressing, macerate for 3 weeks and ferment for 8 days, with racking after... they then spend 1 year in new French Oak barrels (Francois Freres, Gamba, Toransaud) from the Allier and Trocais forests, plus a little bit of Romanian oak. They revealed that at one point they tried American oak, but it was a failure so they won't be trying that again any time soon... The skins are then destilled for single-vineyard grappa. For the white wines, malo is done in steel, while for reds it is done in wood. Gaja was one of the first to purchase the wood, age the barrels themselves (2-3 years outside) and send to a local barrel maker for assembly. (Resumed writing 3 days later... drinking an Anchor Steam on a rare night off...)
Here are two pictures... one the Traditional Slovenian oak barrels used after the first year, and the French Oak.
.. All right, what about the wines??? From the approx. 100ha, the Gaja family gets around 300,000 bottles a year. A good bit Barbaresco... as for the 2002 vintage? All of it was sold off... Shame, but exactly what would be expected from a producer of this stature... Walked to the tasting room (Gaja is still in the distribution business, importing "the best" wines from all over the world (Joseph Phelps, Latour, Lynch Bages, etc), as well as the sole Riedel distributor in Italy... interesting. Into the tasting room - 8 glasses, and as I would discover, all of the glasses were the specific Riedel stem for the given appellation.... The first wine was the 2005 Sito Moresco - a blend of 35% Nebbiolo, 35% Merlot, and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. (now on to a Casa Lager from Casablanca, Morocco - a bit more spicy, but nice). Lots of roses, cassis, slight bit of cloves, tar and earth. Black cherries and cassis (dried) with big, round, well-balanced tannins. Nice entry-level wine. Next was the 2003 Ca'Marcanda Ca'Marcanda - 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc from the Ca'Marcanda estate in Maremma, Tuscany - (a wine I would have 2 more times this trip). This is the highest-end wine from this particular property, retailing for around 75 Euro, or around $125. Minty with anise, clove, dried earth, lots of flower with black cherries, tar, black currant, plums and cocoa. A very, very pretty wine that needs lots of time. Excellent for the vintage... got a bottle of this as a present, and was drunk before I left Italy... The 2000 Rennina Brunello di Montalcino from their estate in Montalcino (this is a 3-vineyard blend. They also make a single-vineyard called Sugarille). Very orange-brown with dried leaves, red earth, plums dried cranberries... very earthy (as would be expected), without the class and refinement of the Sugarille. The 2004 Barbaresco was beautiful, but also very closed. Red center, orange rim with dried cranberries, cherries, figs, tar, leather, tobacco and rosemary. Very shut... an exceptionally long finish. In comparison was the 1989 Barbaresco... a stunning wine, nearing maturity. Full of Sotto Bosco, dried cherries, tar, leather, dried earth - "beautiful", very long finish, dried sweet fruits, cedar, dried leaves. Amazing wine... took my breath away. Next up was my favorite young wine of the trip - the 2001 Sperss is massive. Blowing past the 1996 in sheer weight and power and eclipsing both the 1998 and 1999 in magnitude, this wine is pure adrenaline. From a vineyard in the commune of Serralunga d'Alba (95% Nebbiolo, 5% Barbera). Herbal with clove, cherries, dried peppers, and orange-brown rim, slightly closed with an exceptionally long, balanced finish. Cherry fruit - sweet, clean, very high tannin... all of this, and I even added a note about how elegant this wine is. From there, the 2001 Conteisa (95% Nebbioli, 5% Barbera), from slightly less-powerful provenance is still a beautiful Barolo. Sweet fruit and and expressive nose, but very closed palate. Dried fruits, powerful but elegant with loads of black pepper. A great wine, but not the Sperss or Barbaresco. The 1989 Darmagi (means "What a Pity", after they planted it with Cabernet Sauvignon)... 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc... classified as Vino da Tavola, in Piedmont. A very young wine... slight orange rim, but otherwise opaque purple... sotto bosco, cedar, clove, herbs (green pepper and mint), spicy with black cherries, violets and earth. "Like a great Margaux"... very elegant, like a 1st Growth Bordeaux... incredible. Never one of my favorites, but it was on this day. We were invited to lunch and took with us the 1989 Barbaresco and 1989 Darmagi (you can't pass up old vintages of Gaja...) Went to lunch at the base of the church in Barbaresco... good food. Had lots of mushrooms. Too many mushrooms. Very good, though... no one spoke English, so I had to use my limited Italian to get by. Was lots of fun... Later that night was Marchesi di Barolo. I'll post that later... Pictures of the vineyards of Barbaresco... while we were inside, it starting storming. All of a sudden we hear a few large "boom"s... they fire off cannon filled with some sort of powder trying to ward off hail, as the grapes are just beginning to form, can be very damaging. Read about what happened in Alsace at decanter.com.
is a very large, very industrial, metal door that slides open after you contact security to let you in). The town of Barbaresco was very small, but beautiful. Only 600 people reside in the town... The picture is the Barbaresco castle/ church. We took a tour of the facilites... Gaja was started in 1859 by Giovanni Gaja. The estate now owns some 27ha of vineyards (including the single-vineyards Sori San Lorenzo, Sori Tildin and Costa Russi, plus 14 others) in Barbaresco. All of the vines used in the production of Gaja wines are estate owned... They generally destem, have only one pressing, macerate for 3 weeks and ferment for 8 days, with racking after... they then spend 1 year in new French Oak barrels (Francois Freres, Gamba, Toransaud) from the Allier and Trocais forests, plus a little bit of Romanian oak. They revealed that at one point they tried American oak, but it was a failure so they won't be trying that again any time soon... The skins are then destilled for single-vineyard grappa. For the white wines, malo is done in steel, while for reds it is done in wood. Gaja was one of the first to purchase the wood, age the barrels themselves (2-3 years outside) and send to a local barrel maker for assembly. (Resumed writing 3 days later... drinking an Anchor Steam on a rare night off...)
Here are two pictures... one the Traditional Slovenian oak barrels used after the first year, and the French Oak.
.. All right, what about the wines??? From the approx. 100ha, the Gaja family gets around 300,000 bottles a year. A good bit Barbaresco... as for the 2002 vintage? All of it was sold off... Shame, but exactly what would be expected from a producer of this stature... Walked to the tasting room (Gaja is still in the distribution business, importing "the best" wines from all over the world (Joseph Phelps, Latour, Lynch Bages, etc), as well as the sole Riedel distributor in Italy... interesting. Into the tasting room - 8 glasses, and as I would discover, all of the glasses were the specific Riedel stem for the given appellation.... The first wine was the 2005 Sito Moresco - a blend of 35% Nebbiolo, 35% Merlot, and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. (now on to a Casa Lager from Casablanca, Morocco - a bit more spicy, but nice). Lots of roses, cassis, slight bit of cloves, tar and earth. Black cherries and cassis (dried) with big, round, well-balanced tannins. Nice entry-level wine. Next was the 2003 Ca'Marcanda Ca'Marcanda - 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc from the Ca'Marcanda estate in Maremma, Tuscany - (a wine I would have 2 more times this trip). This is the highest-end wine from this particular property, retailing for around 75 Euro, or around $125. Minty with anise, clove, dried earth, lots of flower with black cherries, tar, black currant, plums and cocoa. A very, very pretty wine that needs lots of time. Excellent for the vintage... got a bottle of this as a present, and was drunk before I left Italy... The 2000 Rennina Brunello di Montalcino from their estate in Montalcino (this is a 3-vineyard blend. They also make a single-vineyard called Sugarille). Very orange-brown with dried leaves, red earth, plums dried cranberries... very earthy (as would be expected), without the class and refinement of the Sugarille. The 2004 Barbaresco was beautiful, but also very closed. Red center, orange rim with dried cranberries, cherries, figs, tar, leather, tobacco and rosemary. Very shut... an exceptionally long finish. In comparison was the 1989 Barbaresco... a stunning wine, nearing maturity. Full of Sotto Bosco, dried cherries, tar, leather, dried earth - "beautiful", very long finish, dried sweet fruits, cedar, dried leaves. Amazing wine... took my breath away. Next up was my favorite young wine of the trip - the 2001 Sperss is massive. Blowing past the 1996 in sheer weight and power and eclipsing both the 1998 and 1999 in magnitude, this wine is pure adrenaline. From a vineyard in the commune of Serralunga d'Alba (95% Nebbiolo, 5% Barbera). Herbal with clove, cherries, dried peppers, and orange-brown rim, slightly closed with an exceptionally long, balanced finish. Cherry fruit - sweet, clean, very high tannin... all of this, and I even added a note about how elegant this wine is. From there, the 2001 Conteisa (95% Nebbioli, 5% Barbera), from slightly less-powerful provenance is still a beautiful Barolo. Sweet fruit and and expressive nose, but very closed palate. Dried fruits, powerful but elegant with loads of black pepper. A great wine, but not the Sperss or Barbaresco. The 1989 Darmagi (means "What a Pity", after they planted it with Cabernet Sauvignon)... 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc... classified as Vino da Tavola, in Piedmont. A very young wine... slight orange rim, but otherwise opaque purple... sotto bosco, cedar, clove, herbs (green pepper and mint), spicy with black cherries, violets and earth. "Like a great Margaux"... very elegant, like a 1st Growth Bordeaux... incredible. Never one of my favorites, but it was on this day. We were invited to lunch and took with us the 1989 Barbaresco and 1989 Darmagi (you can't pass up old vintages of Gaja...) Went to lunch at the base of the church in Barbaresco... good food. Had lots of mushrooms. Too many mushrooms. Very good, though... no one spoke English, so I had to use my limited Italian to get by. Was lots of fun... Later that night was Marchesi di Barolo. I'll post that later... Pictures of the vineyards of Barbaresco... while we were inside, it starting storming. All of a sudden we hear a few large "boom"s... they fire off cannon filled with some sort of powder trying to ward off hail, as the grapes are just beginning to form, can be very damaging. Read about what happened in Alsace at decanter.com.
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