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Gaja brews value from a bold grape
By Aubrey Buckingham |
January 4, 2009, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WHILE wine is becoming affordable locally, quality drops still fetch a premium price. The past few years have seen an explosion in the number of distributors and labels available on the market, but quality and good variety is still a bit lacking.
Consumers unwilling to take great risks in their wine selection ?? a phenomenon likely to continue as wine lovers are forced to tighten their belts ?? will stick to the tried and tested brands already prominent here.
This means one of two choices. Either stick with the mass-produced, consistent but unexciting yet, most importantly, affordable offerings, or shell out top yuan for the more prestigious cuvees that will guarantee maximum prestige points (read: winning face) and good drinking.
Piedmont's Gaja has been represented by ASC Fine Wines for about eight years now, and the name is synonymous with premium fine wines. Unlike its more illustrious counterparts like Rome or Milan, the northern Italian region does not enjoy the same historical significance and is thus often overlooked as a tourist destination.
Over the past 25 years, however, the area has refined its cuisine and the fare is a proven draw for gourmands the world over. Also, the famed white truffle, enjoyed from October through to January, comes predominantly from Alba, capital of the hilly area of Langhe.
It goes without saying that Piedmont is home to some of the finest wines Italy has to offer, namely in the form of Barolo and its sometimes overlooked sibling, Barbaresco.
The Gaja family has been rooted in Piedmont's Barberesco district since the mid-17th century. Since 1961, Angelo Gaja has taken the reins of this noble estate, upholding outstanding traditions while introducing revolutionary techniques such as temperature-controlled fermentation and the introduction of French methods and varietals.
Above all, Gaja has retained an intense respect for the nebbiolo grape - a tricky varietal that thrives mainly in Piedmont and forms the backbone of the region's two favorite sons. During a lecture on the grape given at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai last month, the 68-year-old compared the cabernet sauvignon to John Wayne - bold, blunt and an open book.
Nebbiolo, according to the Gaja doyen, was less friendly and harder to figure out, qualities that enhance the beauty of a woman, just as the complicated varietal is capable of enhancing food.
Quality has always been paramount to Gaja. The estate took the financially straining step of declassifying all wine from the atrocious 1992 vintage, while in 1994 it produced no single vineyard labels. The conditions of most subsequent years have been merciful.
The 1998 Barberesco, the flagship of the Gaja family, is named after the village of its origin. Aged for 12 months in barriques then another year in large casks, this wine made from 14 estate-owned vineyards is a benchmark all Barberesco's should be judged against.
With a classic nose of forest fruits, plums, licorice and coffee, this dense wine hits with a wave of super ripe fruit and a complex finish. The wine was so soft yet so generous, compelling drinkers to take another sip almost immediately.
In contrast, the 1998 Soi Tildin, a single vineyard wine made from a southern-facing hilltop site acquired in 1967, demonstrated the immense aging potential of these wines.
This time made from 95 percent nebbiolo with a dash of barbera, the nose was less revealing but had to be sought out in order to detect the toasty minerality of the bouquet.
This quality comes at a premium, however, and a bottle of 2004 Barberesco retails for about 2,720 yuan (US$397). These are not wines for everyday drinking, however, and are an excellent way to mark a treasured occasion.
Consumers unwilling to take great risks in their wine selection ?? a phenomenon likely to continue as wine lovers are forced to tighten their belts ?? will stick to the tried and tested brands already prominent here.
This means one of two choices. Either stick with the mass-produced, consistent but unexciting yet, most importantly, affordable offerings, or shell out top yuan for the more prestigious cuvees that will guarantee maximum prestige points (read: winning face) and good drinking.
Piedmont's Gaja has been represented by ASC Fine Wines for about eight years now, and the name is synonymous with premium fine wines. Unlike its more illustrious counterparts like Rome or Milan, the northern Italian region does not enjoy the same historical significance and is thus often overlooked as a tourist destination.
Over the past 25 years, however, the area has refined its cuisine and the fare is a proven draw for gourmands the world over. Also, the famed white truffle, enjoyed from October through to January, comes predominantly from Alba, capital of the hilly area of Langhe.
It goes without saying that Piedmont is home to some of the finest wines Italy has to offer, namely in the form of Barolo and its sometimes overlooked sibling, Barbaresco.
The Gaja family has been rooted in Piedmont's Barberesco district since the mid-17th century. Since 1961, Angelo Gaja has taken the reins of this noble estate, upholding outstanding traditions while introducing revolutionary techniques such as temperature-controlled fermentation and the introduction of French methods and varietals.
Above all, Gaja has retained an intense respect for the nebbiolo grape - a tricky varietal that thrives mainly in Piedmont and forms the backbone of the region's two favorite sons. During a lecture on the grape given at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai last month, the 68-year-old compared the cabernet sauvignon to John Wayne - bold, blunt and an open book.
Nebbiolo, according to the Gaja doyen, was less friendly and harder to figure out, qualities that enhance the beauty of a woman, just as the complicated varietal is capable of enhancing food.
Quality has always been paramount to Gaja. The estate took the financially straining step of declassifying all wine from the atrocious 1992 vintage, while in 1994 it produced no single vineyard labels. The conditions of most subsequent years have been merciful.
The 1998 Barberesco, the flagship of the Gaja family, is named after the village of its origin. Aged for 12 months in barriques then another year in large casks, this wine made from 14 estate-owned vineyards is a benchmark all Barberesco's should be judged against.
With a classic nose of forest fruits, plums, licorice and coffee, this dense wine hits with a wave of super ripe fruit and a complex finish. The wine was so soft yet so generous, compelling drinkers to take another sip almost immediately.
In contrast, the 1998 Soi Tildin, a single vineyard wine made from a southern-facing hilltop site acquired in 1967, demonstrated the immense aging potential of these wines.
This time made from 95 percent nebbiolo with a dash of barbera, the nose was less revealing but had to be sought out in order to detect the toasty minerality of the bouquet.
This quality comes at a premium, however, and a bottle of 2004 Barberesco retails for about 2,720 yuan (US$397). These are not wines for everyday drinking, however, and are an excellent way to mark a treasured occasion.
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