Brave New World for Gaja
Brave New World for Gaja

Angelo Gaja, the famous winemaker from Italy's Piedmont region, has decided to no longer produce single-vineyard wines under the Barbaresco and Barolo designations, saying he wants to improve the image of his blended Barbaresco and reinforce his family's history of making great Nebbiolos from that particular region.
"My father and my grandfather never had a single-vineyard wine," said Gaja, 60, in an exclusive interview at his winery in the hilltop village of Barbaresco. "They always made a blended Barbaresco, a wine that came from various vineyards in the zone, making it more complex and more complete. I want to go back to emphasizing this by only making one Barbaresco, a blended one."
His next vintage of single-vineyard wines to come to market, 1996, will no longer carry the Barbaresco Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita or Barolo Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita designations. Instead, the wines will be labeled as Langhe Denominazione di Origine Controllata Nebbiolo, a broader regional designation, though they will continue to carry their single-vineyard names.
The change encompasses two former Barolos -- Sperss and Conteisa -- and three Barbarescos -- Sorl San Lorenzo, Sorl Tildln and Costa Russi. The Conteisa is a new red made from 10 acres in the Cerequio zone of Barolo.
"I am not changing the way I make these wines," said Gaja, responding in part to criticism from the Italian press and other winemakers in Piedmont who say he is making the change because the winemaking rules for the Langhe DOC are less strict than those for the Barbaresco or Barolo DOCGs. "These are wines that represent single vineyards. I am not going to age them less than 24 months in wood or add Cabernet Sauvignon or something to them. They will remain the same."
Gaja's single-vineyard reds are some of the greatest wines produced in Italy and cost up to $200 a bottle in U.S. wine shops. Last year, senior editor Per-Henrik Mansson gave "classic" scores to all of Gaja's 1996 single-vineyard wines, rating Sorl Tildln at 95 points on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale, Costa Russi at 97 points and Sorl San Lorenzo at 97 points. The wines, which were thought to be labeled as Barbarescos at the time of the tasting, will be available in the U.S. market later this year.
"Maybe it is a sentimental reason," said Gaja. "But blended Barbaresco is a tradition for the region and my family. It should have a better reputation. It shouldn't be called 'normal Barbaresco' or 'simple Barbaresco' or 'generic Barbaresco' just because it did not come from a single vineyard. A blended Barbaresco can even be as good as single-vineyard one."
Traditionally, Gaja's blended Barbaresco has sold for substantially less than the single-vineyard ones; for example, the 1996 bottling sells for $120. In addition, the quality is slightly lower; the 1996 scored an "outstanding" 90 points in comparison to 95 points or higher for the single-vineyard wines. Gaja makes significantly larger amounts of his blended Barbaresco, about 5,000 cases per year compared to about 850 cases each of the single-vineyard wines.