Gaja
Gaja is a world famous winery situated in Piemonte in the Northwestern part of Italy. Established in 1859 by Giovanni Gaja in the small town of Barbaresco, the estate began with merely 2 Ha of vineyards, planted in the hills near Barbaresco.
Each generation expanded the estate. However Angelo Gaja (5th generation), who became the proprietor in 1970 (but already started to work in the vineyards since 1961) achieved the most recent success.
Gaja introduced the single vineyard Barbaresco from “Sorí San Lorenzo” (1967), “Sorí Tildin”(1970) and “Costa Russi” (1978), all produced from Nebbiolo grapes. In 1978 he decided to replant the “Darmagi” vineyard in Barbaresco with Cabernet Sauvignon to attain international recognition for the Piemonte region and to show that Italy in general was capable to produce wines of world class.
In 1988, Angelo Gaja purchased 28 Ha of land in the nearby town of Barolo and began producing another single vineyard wine “Sperrs”, which was first released in 1992. He also decided to plant Chardonnay grapes Treiso (Gaia & Rey) and Sauvignon blanc (Alteni di Brassica) in Barbaresco. Further expansions led to Tuscany with acquisitions in Brunello di Montalcino (Pieve Santa Restituta, in 1994) and Bolgheri (Ca’Marcanda, in 1996).
Angelo Gaja desided to declassify his Barolo and Barbaresco wines (with the exception of one wine) to the DOC Langhe, so that he was able to avoid the severe regulations of the more strict DOCG Barbaresco and Barolo in 1996. However since 2013 the Barbaresco wines are classified again as DOCG Barbaresco.
Nowadays Gaja produces over 40 different red and white wines, including Eau de Vie (Grappa). The wines which command the highest prices (and ratings) are the single vineyard Barbaresco wines. Top vintages are: 1989, 1990, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2013.
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