Gaja

Walk into any decent wine shop and ask which Italian winery has played the most significant role over the past half-century, and the shop assistant will likely blurt out ‘Gaja’ before you’ve even finished your question. The estate is situated in the village of Barbaresco, nestled amongst the Langhe hills in Piemonte south-east of Turin; what began as a small family farm in the village has now become a name that collectors place on a par with the finest Bordeaux wines.

Angelo Gaja is the pivotal figure in this rise to prominence, having earned countless accolades over the years. ‘The King of Barbaresco’ is one such title; ‘the man who brought Piedmont into the modern era’ is another. Neither is in any way an exaggeration.

History

The Gaja family’s lineage can be traced back to Spain, with their ancestors settling in Piedmont sometime during the 17th century. However, the winemaking enterprise did not truly begin until 1859. At that time, Giovanni Gaja, who was already running a small restaurant in Barbaresco, decided to bottle and sell the wine served there. Given that most of Barbaresco’s wine was still confined to the local market at the time, his decision to sell wine outside the village made him something of an outsider.

The twentieth century brought two major transformations. Clotilde Rey, who married into the family, maintained strict quality control and encouraged the next generation to think on a broader scale. Her son, Giovanni II, subsequently embarked on a veritable buying spree in 1960, acquiring some of Barbaresco’s finest vineyard plots. But the true revolution began with the arrival of Angelo. Angelo joined the estate in 1961, having just completed his studies in oenology in Alba and Montpellier, followed by a degree in economics in Turin. By 1970, he was effectively at the helm of the business.

Today, day-to-day operations are managed by his three children, Gaia, Rossana and Giovanni, although Angelo, now in his eighties, has never formally stepped down.

Vineyards and Terroir

Under the Gaja brand, the family owns approximately 101 hectares of vineyards in Piedmont, spread across 32 separate plots. These vineyards are situated in the region’s two great Nebbiolo appellations: Barbaresco itself and the village of Treiso, as well as Serralunga d’Alba and La Morra within the Barolo appellation. 

It is the terroir of Piedmont that gives Nebbiolo its renowned structure. Calcareous marl intermingled with limestone, south-facing slopes that bask in the autumn sun, truly cool nights following hot days, and a long ripening period extending well into October.

Since 1994, the family has turned its attention to regions beyond Piedmont. First came Pieve Santa Restituta in Montalcino, a 27-hectare estate specialising in Brunello. Two years later, they acquired Ca’ Marcanda on the Bolgheri coast, a larger Tuscan estate planted with Bordeaux varieties. The latest development is a partnership with the Grachi family on Mount Etna in Sicily, where the wines produced are bottled under the IDDA label.

Grapes and Winemaking

Nebbiolo is the driving force, without a doubt. It forms the cornerstone of all Gaia’s key wines produced in Piedmont. There is also Barbera, alongside international grape varieties that caused a sensation decades ago: Cabernet Sauvignon was planted in 1978, Chardonnay in 1979, and Sauvignon Blanc in 1983.

In the cellar, Angelo draws inspiration from his travels abroad and integrates it with local traditions. Gaja introduced temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks earlier than anywhere else in the region. The same applies to 225-litre French oak barrels. Similarly, the decision to produce Barbaresco from single vineyards rather than blending the entire estate’s harvest stems from this philosophy. Single-vineyard Nebbiolo is typically aged for one year in oak barrels, followed by a further year in larger Slovenian oak casks, before being bottled. Through high-density planting, rigorous pruning and thinning during the growing season, the estate has successfully reduced yields.

Wines

The estate’s Barbaresco is what most people think of first: a blend sourced from 14 individual vineyards.

Above this, three single-vineyard wines have made the family’s name known worldwide: Sori San Lorenzo (first released in 1967), Sori Tildin (1970) and Costa Russi (1978). All three wines are now made from 100% Nebbiolo and hold Barbaresco DOCG certification; although for many years they were labelled simply as the lower-tier Langhe DOC, as Angelo used to include a small amount of Barbera in the blend, a contentious issue that was resolved with the 2013 vintage.

Within the Barolo range, there is ‘Sperss’ from Serralunga, a full-bodied, structurally robust wine first released in 1992, and ‘Conteisa’ from La Morra.

Darmagi is a distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon, named after a muttered remark by Angelo’s father (meaning ‘what a pity’ in the Piemontese dialect) when his son uprooted Nebbiolo vines to plant Bordeaux varieties.

Gaia & Rey is a rigorously oaked Chardonnay, named after Angelo’s eldest daughter and grandmother.

Alteni di Brassica, meanwhile, is a Sauvignon Blanc.

The Tuscan portfolio includes a Brunello from Pieve Santa Restituta, as well as three Bordeaux blends from Ca’ Marcanda: Magari, Camarcanda and Promis.