Gaja (wine)
Its current owner and president Angelo Gaja is credited with developing techniques that have revolutionised winemaking in Italy,[1][2][3][4] and terms such as "the undisputed king of Barbaresco",[5] and "the man who dragged Piedmont into the modern world"[1][6][7] have been applied to him, and whose Barbaresco wine is considered a status symbol on a par with Château Lafite Rothschild or Champagne Krug.
Also cited as an important influence to the firm's early success is the mother of Giovanni Gaja, Clotilda Rey, who instilled the principles of working to achieve high quality to attract the desired clientele, and set high prices to manifest the prestige of the product.
[1] Following several trips to France and ongoing disputes with his father, Angelo Gaja introduced several practices to the region over the following years that were revolutionary to the vinification of Nebbiolo.
[1][3] Gaja is also credited with introducing to Piemonte malolactic fermentation, from the 1975–1976 vintage implementing French barriques ten years after initial experiments,[10] bringing in thermo-controllable fermentation equipment and French grape varieties, and eventually grand cru prices.
[1][12] Giovanni Gaja opposed his son's use of new barriques and the decision to plant French grape varieties.
And only by succeeding on terms accepted by the rest of the world could he draw attention to the great wines made from Italy's indigenous grapes.
[9] Gaja ferments his wines for up to 30 days, a traditional method instead of the modernist five-day fermentations, and although he employs barriques (⅓ new oak) for the first year of aging, the process is finished in big botti (traditional 10-100+hL casks, Slavonian oak or historically chestnut, some of which c. 80–120 years old).
Nebbiolo, on the other hand, would be the brooding, quiet man in the corner, harder to understand but infinitely more complex.
He refused to sell 12,000 cases (1,100 hl) of 1984 Barbaresco under the Gaja label because the quality did not meet his standards.
[18] Angelo Gaja has declared he will not expand the firm's holding outside Italy's borders, although in 1989 he came close to a joint venture with the Napa Valley magnate Robert Mondavi.
[6] With the 1996 vintage, Angelo Gaja intentionally declassified his DOCG Barbaresco and Barolo wines, with the exception of one, moving them to the lower DOC class Langhe Rosso.
[10][19] Denying rumours contending that this unprecedented decision was stemmed from a desire to blend his Barbarescos and Barolos with international grapes,[10] Gaja stated that among the reasons was that he wanted to remain free to include small percentages of Barbera in the wines (typically only 5 or 6 percent) as a "correction for acidity".
My family focused on Barbaresco made with Nebbiolo from 14 of the estate's vineyards, and it has always been the firm's historic wine.
But while our single vineyard bottlings grew in prestige, our Barbaresco was suddenly referred to as normale or "basic", and considered inferior to the mono-crus, which I never intended.
The name comes from the term "costa", the side of a hill facing the sun, and "Russi" a nickname of the previous owner.
"Sorì" is a Piedmontese word for "hilltop with southern exposure" and "Tildìn" was a nickname of Clotilde Rey, Angelo Gaja's grandmother.
Having purchased grapes from Serralunga for the Gaja Barolo until 1961, this ceased with the decision to produce only from estate-owned vineyards.
The name is Piedmontese for "nostalgia", indicating a longing to return to the making of Barolo after several years of absence.
The name is Piedmontese for "quarrel", referring to a historic dispute between the communes La Morra and Barolo, both claiming the Cerequio land.
The name comes from the alteni, small stone walls that in the past surrounded the orchards in the area, and brassica, yellow flowers that cover the vineyards in the spring.
Its grape variety distribution is predominantly Chardonnay with a small portion of Sauvignon blanc, aged in barrique for 6–7 months with malolactic fermentation.
Gaja produces three grappas named Sperss, Gaia & Rey and Darmagi, using grapes from their most famous vineyards.
A visible barrel aging is seen in the Darmagi grappa, perhaps as a nod to the traditionalist disappointment beholden in pursuing French-style standards of brandy vinification.
[21] This wine is sourced from three non-contiguous vineyard sites, located on a portion of the Pieve Santa Restituta estate that was named "vicus Rennina" according to an 8th-century document.
A wine sourced with fruit from the Sugarille vineyard which was first recorded in the inventory of Pieve parish church in 1547.
It is classified Bolgheri DOC The white wine produced in the Ca'Marcanda estate, it is a savory, floral blend of both Italian and French varieties.
