Gaia & Rey 2022 Gaja

Tasting Notes

First and foremost, the nose is impressive. Yellow stone fruits, peach and a hint of pineapple overlay the toasty, almost hazelnut character resulting from aging in barrique. The flavor is rich but not heavy. It has a sense of lemon oil with a chalky note due to the lime marl beneath Rey's vineyard and a long, slightly creamy finish. James Suckling praised this vintage, "Younger than the 2021, more open and approachable, but with structure that can stand up to aging."

Grape Varieties

Gaia & Rey is a 100% Chardonnay. So why does its flavor taste so different from Chardonnays from Burgundy and Napa? Terroir. The high altitude and lime marl increase acidity, something you wouldn't expect from a hot harvest like 2022. In addition, Angelo Gaja's decision to plant Chardonnay here in 1979, controversial at the time, still defines the style: it's aged in French oak but has a sense of Italian tension.

Cellaring Potential

Drink between 2026 and 2038; the 2022 can be drunk now, but it needs 2-3 years for the acidity and barrique structure (small French oak barrels give structure and flavor) to integrate; store at 12-14°C. With time, the fruitiness is replaced by notes of honey, beeswax and toasted nuts.

The Producer

Ask a wine merchant which Italian producer has become the most important in the last 50 years. The answer will be immediate: Gaja. Angelo Gaja took over the company in 1961 and did what no one had done before him at Barbaresco. Temperature-controlled stainless steel. French Barrique. A bottling of single vineyard wine; in 1979 he also planted Chardonnay, which his neighbors thought was crazy. Today, his children Gaia, Rossana and Giovanni are responsible for the day-to-day management of the business. Best of Wines offers Gaja's wines, whose consistency from vintage to vintage is unrivaled.

Terroir & Climate

The Rey vineyard is located in Treiso, one of the highest communes in the Barbaresco zone, at about 350 meters above sea level. Why is altitude important for Chardonnay? Cool nights. The climate in Piedmont is continental, with hot summer days, but at Treiso altitude the temperature drops sharply after sunset, preserving acidity in the grapes that would otherwise be reduced in warmer climates. The soil is calcareous marl from the Tortonian, the same bluish-gray marl that gives the best Langhe wines tension and length.

Winemaking

The decisive choice here is barrel work. Gaja ferments Gaia & Rey in French oak barriques and then ages it for several months in the same wood until malolactic fermentation is complete (turning the pungent malic acid into soft lactic acid and imparting creaminess). Why barriques and not steel? Angelo wanted not only fruitiness, but also texture and length. The barrels, however, are not the screaming, vanilla-soaked California style of the 1980s. The new oak is restrained enough to allow Treiso's fruit and acidity to still drive the wine. It is this balance that is key.

Food Pairing

This wine has body and a firm oak backbone, so it needs food that can stand up to it. Try it:

• Fonduta with white truffles from Alba.
• Vitello tonnato, the tuna sauce loves the acidity of the wine.
• Risotto with porcini mushrooms, butter and sage.
• Roasted chicken with herbs and aged robiola cheese

Serve at 11-13°C. The flavors fade when too cold, and become heavy when too warm.