2006 Darmagi

My most recent visit to Gaja was quite an experience, as I tasted all of the estate's 1989s, 1990s and 2007s. The 1989s and 1990s are reviewed on this site's What About Now article. Angelo Gaja, always loquacious on a wide range of subjects, says virtually nothing about his wines, an approach I have increasingly come to appreciate in an era where so many producers are constantly in pitch mode. Then again, Gaja doesn't really need to say anything, the wines speak for themselves. I tasted the 2007s at the winery in November 2009 and then again in New York in January 2010. Both times they were spectacular. Stylistically the 2007s remind me of the 1997s in terms of their opulence. Gaja's wines are often showy when young – which is certainly the case with the 2007s – but then close down in bottle for a number of years, sometimes many years. My impression is that the Costa Russi and Conteisa are the most likely of these 2007s to offer the widest drinking windows throughout their lives with a minimum of cellaring. Fermentation and malolactic fermentation take place in steel. The wines then spent approximately one year in French oak and a second year in cask prior to being bottled. As has been the case for a number of years now, Gaja's Langhe wines incorporate a small percentage of Barbera. On a final note, it's great to see Gaja's daughters Gaia and Rossana increasingly involved in the winery. They, and their younger brother Giovanni, have big shoes to fill, but couldn't have asked for better teachers than Angelo and Lucia Gaja.

x000D According to Gaja, global warming has been beneficial for the wines of Barbaresco. "Before 1996 there was a big gap in quality between Barolo and Barbaresco," he told me. "Barolo was routinely a degree higher in alcohol-say 12.5% vs. 11.5%, or 13% vs. 12%. But today Barbaresco is commonly 13.5%, or even higher. In fact, now consumers are asking for wines with lower alcohol. But it's wrong to blame the grower for this; it's the climate." Interestingly, Gaja does not find a significant difference between the 2007 and 2006 vintages for his big nebbiolo wines, although he described the 2006s as "more Piemontese." The 2007 single-vineyard wines will be at their best 8 to 15 years after the vintage, says Gaja. "I'm not a great fan of very old wines, even Burgundy or Bordeaux," he told me. "I find Burgundy between 8 and 12 years old and Bordeaux between 9 and 15 to be at their most expressive stage for matching with food." Gaja notes that 2005 was much better for Barbaresco than for Barolo, as much of the harvest in Barbaresco was finished before the last damaging rains in early October, including all of his own nebbiolo from Barbaresco. Gaja continues to include about 5% barbera in his cru bottlings from Barbaresco, and a bit more in his Sperss (6%) and Conteisa (8%).