Barolo Sperss

"The golden touch, that proverbial Gaja magic, is taken to a whole new level in the 2016 Barolo Sperss. Angelo Gaja has taught his children to follow their own path, and now that the generational switch is well underway at the family estate, we can see that Gaia, Rossana and Giovanni have done him proud. Very proud. This stunning expression from the 2016 vintage (with 16,000 bottles released) represents quite a few celebratory milestones. We are now in the fifth generation to protect the Gaja legacy in an unbroken family chain that has endured since 1859. This wine is 100% Nebbiolo, and since the 2013 vintage, it is part of the Barolo DOCG appellation. Winemaking has been tweaked to embrace a more elegant, ethereal and streamlined personality, instead of the bigger extraction we saw in the past. This upgraded identity is distinctly evident in this newest release of Sperss. Starting with appearance, the wine is luminous and bright with shiny ruby and garnet gemstone. Its aromatic reach is three-dimensional with width, height and depth. Delicate berry tones cede to pressed lilac, anise, sandalwood and cardamom spice. I double decanted and left the bottle open for a few hours before my tasting. The results are tight and gentle, and the wine shows beautiful vertical lift and intensity. To achieve this much power without the excess fruit weight is really quite an accomplishment. This is the magic of Nebbiolo, and the magic of Gaja 100/100 WA

The golden touch, that proverbial magic of Gaja, is taken to a whole new level in the 2016 Barolo Sperss. Angelo Gaja taught his children to follow their own path, and now that the generational change is well underway in the family estate, we can see that Gaia, Rossana and Giovanni have made him proud. Very proud. This amazing expression of the 2016 vintage (with 16,000 bottles released) represents quite a few festive milestones. We are now in the fifth generation to protect the Gaja legacy in an unbroken family chain that has endured since 1859. This wine is 100% Nebbiolo, and since the 2013 vintage, it is part of the Barolo DOCG appellation. The winemaking has been refined to embrace a more elegant, ethereal and uncluttered personality, instead of the more extraction we have seen in the past. This enhanced identity is clearly evident in this latest release from Sperss. Starting with the appearance, the wine is bright and brilliant with bright ruby and garnet gems. Its aromatic scope is three-dimensional with width, height and depth. Delicate berry notes yield to pressed lilac, anise, sandalwood and cardamom spice. I double decanted and left the bottle open for a few hours before my tasting. The results are tight and smooth, and the wine shows nice vertical lift and intensity. To achieve this much power without the excessive weight of fruit is truly an accomplishment. This is the magic of Nebbiolo and the magic of Gaja.100/100 WA

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Angelo Gaja is undoubtedly the undisputed face of Italian winemaking. Born in Alba in 1940, he graduated from the University of Alba with a degree in Biology and a Masters in Economics from the University of Turin. In 1961 he took over the family estate, which was established in 1859 in the Langhe hills of Piedmont. Today he owns about 100 hectares of vineyards and does not buy any grapes from the wine trade. He has contributed enormously to placing the wines of Piedmont, particularly Barbaresco and Barolo, among the world's elite.His most revolutionary techniques (for the time in Piedmont) were the use of new French oak barrels, as opposed to the Yugoslavian oak barrels used by all other producers. He was thus able to improve considerably the maturation and therefore the quality of the wine and at the same time soften the very hard tannins of the Nebbiolo grape, thus removing its brutality and bringing out its finesse. For his barrels, he buys staves from the Tronçais forest, which, after air-drying for a minimum of 36 months, are used to make the barrels by a local cooperage. He identified parcels in Barbaresco which, because of their terroir, produce some of the greatest wines in Italy (Sori Tildin, Sori San Lorenzo and Costa Russi). He was the first winemaker to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc instead of Nebbiolo, much to the dismay of his father and colleagues. Today his Cabernet is called Darmagi "what a shame" and is one of the best Cabernets produced in the world. There were cries of scandal, but Gaja proved that the land of Alba could produce world-class wines with grapes other than Nebbiolo. The work that Angelo Gaja does is very rigorous, both in the vineyards (leaf removal, green harvesting) and in the monitoring of fermentation. The yields are half of what is allowed in the Barbaresco appellation. Harvesting is done by hand with only the employees of the Gaja estate. Angelo Gaja has promoted his wines all over the world thanks to his extraordinary personality and charisma. He was elected "Man of the Year 1998" by the English magazine "Decanter".

In the reference guide of Italian wines "Gambero Rosso", he is recognized as the best wine producer in Italy.