Gaja Barbaresco crus: Costa Russi & Sorì San Lorenzo verticals

Stephen Brook recently visited Gaja's estate in Barbaresco, where he tasted verticals of their Costa Russi and Sorì San Lorenzo crus...

Angelo Gaja has never had much time for conventional wisdom. He introduced barriques to age part of his Barbaresco in 1978, some years before a group of Barolo modernists followed his example.

At about the same time, he began planting international varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon out of curiosity to see whether they worked in the Langhe, and because he thought it would help him to penetrate the American market, which knew little about Barbaresco at the time.

Scroll down to see Stephen’s tasting notes & scores from two vertical tastings at the estate

Angelo bought the three vineyards that would become his cru Barbarescos in the mid-1960s, when single vineyard wines were a fairly novel concept. It’s worth noting that at this time Gaja was already the best known estate in Barbaresco, charging higher prices than neighbouring properties, so Angelo felt he could experiment and innovate without too much risk.

Derestricted

What really took the wine world by surprise was his decision with the 1996 vintage to downgrade his three crus to the simple Langhe appellation. Having shaken off the DOCG rulebook, he was free to add about 5% of Barbera to give the wines a tad more colour, acidity and staying power.

When I asked him about this decision in 2007, he insisted his main motivation was not the freedom to blend in other varieties but to elevate the status of his blended Barbaresco, which came from 14 different vineyards. A wine of exceptional quality, it was being slighted as wine critics and importers showered praise on the scarcer and more expensive cru wines.

Restoration

However, with the 2013 vintage his daughter Gaia, increasingly in charge of the business by now, took the decision to restore the crus as Barbaresco bottlings, thereby eliminating any varieties other than Nebbiolo from the blend. Her father appears to have accepted and respected her decision.

The crus

Gaja produce three single vineyard Barbarescos: Sorì Tildin, Costa Russi and Sorì San Lorenzo. In May 2018, Gaia Gaja presented verticals of the latter two at their estate.

Costa Russi consists of 4.3ha at an altitude of 230 metres, facing southwest on relatively heavy clay-limestone soils. By 2017 the vines were 75 years old, so they were replanted horizontally at a density of 5,700 vines per hectare in preference to the previous 4,200 vines per hectare. This vineyard has always been the estate’s primary source of Nebbiolo massal selections. Gaia considers Costa Russi to be the most fresh and floral of their Barbaresco crus.

Sorì San Lorenzo produces more tannic wines, and Angelo once told me that it was the most austere of his crus. It’s a site of 3.4ha, and the vines have an average age of some forty years. Only the top part of the vineyard is destined to be bottled as a cru wine.

Until 2008 the crus were partly aged in 120hl casks, but subsequent vintages were aged for 12 months in one-third new barriques, followed by a further 12 months in smaller casks.

Like all the Gaja Barbarescos, they combine force with elegance, and generally show a bit more richness and power than equivalent wines from other producers. They age superbly, and while some vintages can be broached young, these are structured wines intended to be cellared.

Gaja Barbaresco crus: two verticals

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