Gaja
masterclass
Tasting the wines of one of Italy's star producers with Gaia Gaja
With Gaia Gaja, March 2013, VinCE,
Hungary
This was an engaging masterclass, with
the dynamic Gaia Gaja (above) taking a large group through
five wines from the Gaja stable.
She begins with a perspective. Italy is
1000 km long and has 1000 different grape varieties, growing in a
range of climates. ‘There are lots of different varieties, because
the people are all different,’ she says. ‘It is very difficult
to learn about Italian wines, and Italians make it very difficult
for you.’
Gaia comes from Barbaresco in the Langhe,
Piedmont, which is a compact village with one church, one shop, a
few restaurants and 100 wineries, for just 600 people. Gaja is right
in the middle of the village, and was founded in 1859.
‘At the time families were making cheap
wine for themselves and selling grapes to negociants,’ says Gaia,
‘Giovanni Gaja stopped selling grapes and closed his tavern,
devoting himself to making wine.’ At the time the business was in
selling 50 litre jars of wines.
Giovanni had 8 sons, and the best of
them, the youngest, Angelo, took over the business and married a
tough wife (Clotilde Rey), who turned out to be the driving force
behind the business.
The third generation, another Giovanni (Gaia’s
grandfather), was responsible for developing Gaja as a significant
wine business. Without any competition, he went out and bought what
he felt to be the best vineyards in the region, from the 1930s until
the 1950s. He was the mayor of the village for 25 years.
Angelo Gaja, Gaia’s father, has been
working in the winery since 1961, and is largely responsible for
shaping today’s portfolio. He has been criticized for being a
modernist, introducing small oak and international varieties. In
truth, he’s only a modernist
by the standards of a very traditional region. Stick him in
California or Australia, and he’s be seen as an arch
traditionalist.
Gaia began working in the family business
in 2004, and has no specific role. She travels widely, pimps the
wines, runs the office and drives the business. Her sister is also
involved, but more in the production side: she’s a trained
winemaker.
‘Over the last 15–20 years, global
warming has really affected our way of working,’ says Gaia. ‘15
years ago we had too much water, and we were pulling out leaves to
expose bunches. Now we talk about the opposite: how can we keep the
moisture, and how can we protect grapes from the sun? The pH of the
wines 30 years ago was very different to how it is today.’ She
suggests that global warming is also changing the disease pressure
in the vineyard. ‘Esca never happened much in the past, and we are
trying to solve the problem.’
‘Nebbiolo is a very discrete wine. The
taste is very delicate, at the end of the palate. In the centre of
your palate you have texture more than taste. A sense of freshness
and lightness.’
‘Barbaresco is always described as
less,’ says Gaia. ‘Less structured, less tannic and less ageable
than Barolo. It is negative. The biggest innovation of Gaja was to
show the greatness of Barbaresco. It is less tannic, less austere
and has an elegance, with more open aromas. It is more ethereal and
delicate and wins on elegance.’
‘In ageing these Nebbiolos can’t keep
the youth of Bordeaux,’ says Gaia. She cites a 1940 Latour tasted
recently that seemed 20 years old, not 73. ‘Very old Barbaresco
doesn’t keep the same youth. Nebbiolo can evolve a lot. The more
you turn it in the glass the more it changes.’
Gaja has expanded beyond Barbaresco, into
Barolo, and also into Tuscany. They currently have 100 hectares in
Piedmont, making 300 000 bottles. In Montalcino they have 16
hectares, yielding 40 000 bottles, and in Bolgheri another 80
hectares, yielding 300 000 bottles.
The Gaja Brunello comes from the Pieve S.
Restituta winery, which is a 16 hectare vineyard with a church in
the middle. It was owned by the clergy, who sold it to a guy in
1974, who retired 20 years later and sold it to Gaja. Brunello has
grown massively of late. In 1961 ghere were 250 hectares; now there
are 2000, and in that time the number of producers has grown from 25
to 200, and production has grown from 150 000 bottles to 7 million.
Gaja’s Bolgheri project was started in
1996, with the Ca’Marcanda winery, Gaia describes it as ‘The
opposite of Barbaresco, the New World of Italy.’ There were no
local varieties here, as the region – on the Tuscan coast –
consisted of swamps for a large part of its history. In the 18th
century, people began to drain areas, and Sassicaia was the
pioneering winery in the region in the 1960s and 70s, opening the
way for other producers.
THE
WINES
Gaja
Ca'Marcanda ‘Magari’ 2010 Toscana IGT, Italy
A blend of Merlot (50%) with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet
Franc, from a mixture of brown and white clay soils. Dense, spicy
and quite rich with good acidity supporting the rich black fruits,
as well as some dense, tarry, spicy savoury notes. Warm and herby
with some garrigue notes, and a grippy finish. 91/100
Gaja
Ca’Marcanda 2009 IGT Toscana, Italy
Smooth, fresh black cherry fruit with some berry notes as well
as spicy, mineral characters. Grippy, mineral, slightly tarry palate
with fresh acidity and good tannins. Ripe and fresh with nice
richness, good balance and a lovely personality. 93/100
Gaja Pieve
Santa Restituta Brunello di Montalcino 2007 Tuscany, Italy
Rich, dense, tannic and spicy. Fresh but angular with firm
tannins and subtle notes of warm herbs and spices, as well as a hint
of tea leaf. Sweet cherries, too, and some balsamic notes. Direct
and full. 92/100
Gaja
Barbaresco 2009 Piedmont, Italy
14 different vineyards contributed. ‘Balance and ageability
comes from blending different terroirs,’ says Gaia Gaja. ‘By
being a master of blending different Nebbiolos you can make a
balanced wine.’ Because of the ripeness of the vintage, 70% of
stems were included in the ferment for the first time. Notes of
spice, herbs, tea and fresh cherries, couple with some tight tannic
structure and good acidity. Taut, dense, savoury and fine with real
interest and a grippy finish. 94/100
Gaja Sperss
2001 Langhe, Piedmont, Italy
This is from Barolo, but because some Barbera is included in the
blend it is labelled as Langhe. Fresh, dark and balsamic nose with
spicy black cherry and berry fruits. Assertive and spicy. The palate
is dense, tannic and austere with firm structure under the vivid
black fruits, together with hints of exotic spices. Still tightwound
and firm, with nice acidity. 93/100
See
also:
Soldera
Brunello vertical tasting
The
wines of Luca Roagna, Piedmont
Wines
tasted 03/13
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