Gaja
Giovanni Gaja founded the winery in Barbaresco, Piedmont in 1859. Currently, in its fifth generation of unbroken familial leadership, Gaja has established itself as one of Italy's most iconic winemaking dynasties since its foundation in 1859.
The flagship wine of Italy’s most famous Piedmonte dynasty, Gaja has produced its iconic Barbaresco since its founding in 1859 by the legendary Giovanni Gaja. Over 150 years later, Angelo Gaja is the dynamic and revered winemaker at the helm of his family estate, a position he has now held for over five decades.
| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
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Tuscany | 1 | 93 (WS) |
Inc. TAX
€358.72 |
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Wine Spectator (93)A well-structured, big red. Lots of spice, cinnamon and ripe fruit. Full-bodied and very silky, with lots of raisin, spice and berry character and toasted oak. Needs time to mellow. Best after 2003. 1,000 cases made. -JS |
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Tuscany | 1 | 96 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€830.39 |
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Wine Advocate (96)The 2007 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille is dazzling. Dark fruit, tar, licorice and smoke come to life in this dramatic, large-scaled Brunello. The 2007 boasts incredible intensity and power all the way through to the palate-staining finish. Today the tannins are big and imposing, but they should start settling down as the wine approaches its tenth birthday. I saw the wine shut down quickly in the glass, which is an excellent sign for its potential longevity. This is a flat-out gorgeous bottle of wine. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2027. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 95 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€171.55 |
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Wine Advocate (95)A bit closed at first, the 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille sees fruit harvested from a five-hectare cru site with galestro limestone soils and all-southern exposures. Despite the initial shyness of the bouquet, this wine ultimately shows a more profound and elegant approach in this warm vintage. It just takes a little longer to get there. The nose offers a full spectrum of fruit, floral and earthy tones that speak so highly of this all-Sangiovese appellation. The wine is smooth and rich in terms of density with beautiful firmness at the back. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 95 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€848.14 |
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Wine Advocate (95)A bit closed at first, the 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille sees fruit harvested from a five-hectare cru site with galestro limestone soils and all-southern exposures. Despite the initial shyness of the bouquet, this wine ultimately shows a more profound and elegant approach in this warm vintage. It just takes a little longer to get there. The nose offers a full spectrum of fruit, floral and earthy tones that speak so highly of this all-Sangiovese appellation. The wine is smooth and rich in terms of density with beautiful firmness at the back. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 95+ (VN) |
Inc. TAX
€952.54 |
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Vinous (95+)Deep red-ruby. Delicate aromas of flinty red cherry and herbs complicated by hints of mocha and lifted by a bright violet topnote. Dense, rich and concentrated but light on its feet, offering a very polished mouthfeel thanks to serious but noble tannins that nicely frame the refined, steely red fruit flavors. Finishes long and very elegant. Just like the 2013 Brunello Rennina, this also has 15% alcohol but is so well balanced that you can hardly tell (unlike with the Rennina). Knockout young Brunello from Gaja, one of the very best in memory. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 96 (VN) |
Inc. TAX
€1,101.34 |
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Vinous (96)The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille is a gorgeous, feminine Brunello. It offers up fresh red berries, woodland in nature, with dusty florals and white smoke, turning more savory in the glass, hinting at coffee grinds, yet understated and refined throughout. On the palate, velvety textures nearly envelope a solid core of structural heft, which are perceived yet hardly felt until the finale. The purest blackberry, licorice, sage and savory spices remain throughout its long and dramatic finish, as grippy tannins emerge beneath a cloak of dark florals and crushed wildberry fruit. The 2015 Sugarille is a little untamed in its early going, but I’m imagining that quite a wine will emerge over the next five to ten years. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 98 (JS) |
Inc. TAX
€1,127.99 |
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James Suckling (98)Plenty of black cherries, cedar, dried flowers and red cherries on the nose, following through to the palate, which is dense and compressed with gorgeous, intense fruit and chewy yet integrated tannins. Very, very impressive red here. Try after 2024 |
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Tuscany | 1 | 95 (VN) |
Inc. TAX
€504.59 |
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Vinous (95)The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille keeps me coming back to the glass again and again to take in its spicy yet also wonderfully lifted bouquet, as shavings of cedar and pine evolve to reveal mentholated herbs, flinty stone and dried black cherries. This is deeply textural, soothing with its combination of ripe red fruits and juicy acidity, as sweet spices and mint nuances resonate toward the close. The Sugarille doesn’t miss a beat, tapering off with impeccable balance and regal structure, while allowing remnants of ripe wild berries and plum to linger on and on. The Gaja family has really outdone themselves in this idiosyncratic vintage. |
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Piedmont | 3 | 97 (VN) |
Inc. TAX
€1,287.52 |
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Vinous (97)A magnum of Gaja’s 1990 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo was breathtaking. The wine revealed jaw-dropping purity and elegance in an extraordinary display of vibrant dark fruit. Those lucky enough to own this gem of a wine, especially in large formats, can look forward to several decades of profound drinking. |
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Piedmont | 1 | 98 (WA) |
Inc. TAX
€1,152.58 |
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Wine Advocate (98)A banner wine for Gaja, the 2010 Sori San Lorenzo brings the infinite and ethereal aromas associated with Nebbiolo into startling focus and clarity. Again, like the Sori Tildin, the structure and tannic firmness of the wine will carry the wine forward over the years and decades ahead. It demands much more time until it fully blossoms. I walked through the San Lorenzo vineyard with Gaia Gaja and she showed me some of their recent activity. Every second row is planted with barley that acts as a natural rototiller given its aggressive root system. Borrowing other “New World” ideas, they’ve started compost piles with Californian red worms and are using (with less success, I’m told) wooden tree boxes to repopulate the birds. All of this must seem very odd to the neighbors. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2040. |
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| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
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Tuscany | 1 | 93 (WS) |
In Bond
€291.00 |
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Wine Spectator (93)A well-structured, big red. Lots of spice, cinnamon and ripe fruit. Full-bodied and very silky, with lots of raisin, spice and berry character and toasted oak. Needs time to mellow. Best after 2003. 1,000 cases made. -JS |
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Tuscany | 1 | 96 (WA) |
In Bond
€669.00 |
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Wine Advocate (96)The 2007 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille is dazzling. Dark fruit, tar, licorice and smoke come to life in this dramatic, large-scaled Brunello. The 2007 boasts incredible intensity and power all the way through to the palate-staining finish. Today the tannins are big and imposing, but they should start settling down as the wine approaches its tenth birthday. I saw the wine shut down quickly in the glass, which is an excellent sign for its potential longevity. This is a flat-out gorgeous bottle of wine. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2027. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 95 (WA) |
In Bond
€139.00 |
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Wine Advocate (95)A bit closed at first, the 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille sees fruit harvested from a five-hectare cru site with galestro limestone soils and all-southern exposures. Despite the initial shyness of the bouquet, this wine ultimately shows a more profound and elegant approach in this warm vintage. It just takes a little longer to get there. The nose offers a full spectrum of fruit, floral and earthy tones that speak so highly of this all-Sangiovese appellation. The wine is smooth and rich in terms of density with beautiful firmness at the back. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 95 (WA) |
In Bond
€683.00 |
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Wine Advocate (95)A bit closed at first, the 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille sees fruit harvested from a five-hectare cru site with galestro limestone soils and all-southern exposures. Despite the initial shyness of the bouquet, this wine ultimately shows a more profound and elegant approach in this warm vintage. It just takes a little longer to get there. The nose offers a full spectrum of fruit, floral and earthy tones that speak so highly of this all-Sangiovese appellation. The wine is smooth and rich in terms of density with beautiful firmness at the back. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 95+ (VN) |
In Bond
€770.00 |
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Vinous (95+)Deep red-ruby. Delicate aromas of flinty red cherry and herbs complicated by hints of mocha and lifted by a bright violet topnote. Dense, rich and concentrated but light on its feet, offering a very polished mouthfeel thanks to serious but noble tannins that nicely frame the refined, steely red fruit flavors. Finishes long and very elegant. Just like the 2013 Brunello Rennina, this also has 15% alcohol but is so well balanced that you can hardly tell (unlike with the Rennina). Knockout young Brunello from Gaja, one of the very best in memory. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 96 (VN) |
In Bond
€894.00 |
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Vinous (96)The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille is a gorgeous, feminine Brunello. It offers up fresh red berries, woodland in nature, with dusty florals and white smoke, turning more savory in the glass, hinting at coffee grinds, yet understated and refined throughout. On the palate, velvety textures nearly envelope a solid core of structural heft, which are perceived yet hardly felt until the finale. The purest blackberry, licorice, sage and savory spices remain throughout its long and dramatic finish, as grippy tannins emerge beneath a cloak of dark florals and crushed wildberry fruit. The 2015 Sugarille is a little untamed in its early going, but I’m imagining that quite a wine will emerge over the next five to ten years. |
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Tuscany | 1 | 98 (JS) |
In Bond
€917.00 |
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James Suckling (98)Plenty of black cherries, cedar, dried flowers and red cherries on the nose, following through to the palate, which is dense and compressed with gorgeous, intense fruit and chewy yet integrated tannins. Very, very impressive red here. Try after 2024 |
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Tuscany | 1 | 95 (VN) |
In Bond
€409.00 |
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Vinous (95)The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille keeps me coming back to the glass again and again to take in its spicy yet also wonderfully lifted bouquet, as shavings of cedar and pine evolve to reveal mentholated herbs, flinty stone and dried black cherries. This is deeply textural, soothing with its combination of ripe red fruits and juicy acidity, as sweet spices and mint nuances resonate toward the close. The Sugarille doesn’t miss a beat, tapering off with impeccable balance and regal structure, while allowing remnants of ripe wild berries and plum to linger on and on. The Gaja family has really outdone themselves in this idiosyncratic vintage. |
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Piedmont | 3 | 97 (VN) |
In Bond
€1,065.00 |
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Vinous (97)A magnum of Gaja’s 1990 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo was breathtaking. The wine revealed jaw-dropping purity and elegance in an extraordinary display of vibrant dark fruit. Those lucky enough to own this gem of a wine, especially in large formats, can look forward to several decades of profound drinking. |
|||||||||
|
|
Piedmont | 1 | 98 (WA) |
In Bond
€953.00 |
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Wine Advocate (98)A banner wine for Gaja, the 2010 Sori San Lorenzo brings the infinite and ethereal aromas associated with Nebbiolo into startling focus and clarity. Again, like the Sori Tildin, the structure and tannic firmness of the wine will carry the wine forward over the years and decades ahead. It demands much more time until it fully blossoms. I walked through the San Lorenzo vineyard with Gaia Gaja and she showed me some of their recent activity. Every second row is planted with barley that acts as a natural rototiller given its aggressive root system. Borrowing other “New World” ideas, they’ve started compost piles with Californian red worms and are using (with less success, I’m told) wooden tree boxes to repopulate the birds. All of this must seem very odd to the neighbors. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2040. |
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