2003 Barolo Sperss

Angelo Gaja's 2003s have aged well, but they are also mature or close to mature and need to be enjoyed over the next few years. In 2003, production was down sharply, as a significant amount of wine was sold in bulk.

"Elegance whispers and opulence shouts," said Angelo Gaja, trying to describe the difference between Barbaresco and Barolo. "Opulence is easy to perceive, but the elegant character of Barbaresco is much more difficult to describe. " Gaja described 2004 as "a big crop, and especially large for growers who did not do a green harvest. " The 2005 harvest brought a much lower crop level, and Gaja picked all of his Barbaresco nebbiolo prior to the early October rains. (This fact was confirmed by some of his neighbors who were caught with a portion of their fruit hanging. ) IWC readers with long memories will recall that Gaja told me a few years back that he doubted he would make his cru bottlings from the hot 2003 harvest. In the end, he did offer these wines, but in very limited quantities. "We essentially conducted three harvests in 2003 [beginning on September 12th in Barbaresco], and we eventually kept just 38% to 45% of the fruit, depending on the site. " As always, my mini-marathon at Gaja went by too quickly, as I tasted a number of sensational bottlings. Production here has been a stable 350,000 bottles in recent years. Incidentally, in the '03, '04 and '05 vintages, Gaja added about 5% barbera to his crus from the Barbaresco area, with the Sperss getting 6% barbera and the Conteisa 8%.

Angelo Gaja and long-time oenolog ist Guido Rivella produced some of the most monumental wines of their long, storied partnership in 2004. Although I admire Gaja's wines, especially for their cons istency, I rarely find them th is emotionally moving and utterly profound. The stable weather and cool, tempering evenings towards the end of the growing season allowed Gaja and Rivella to harvest fairly late in 2004. I remember passing by Gaja's Barbaresco vineyards in October of that year and seeing fruit still waiting to be picked long after most producers had already brought the fruit in. Gaja's 2004s from Barbaresco are especially breathtaking for their clarity and prec ision. The wines also seem less internationally-styled than in the past. Readers fortunate enough to possess the means to acquire these wines won't want to m iss them! The 2003s from the Barolo zones of La Morra and Serralunga are also strong efforts considering the vintage. “H istorically in Piedmont there has been an inverse relationship between quality and quantity. Great vintages like 1961 and 1989 were characterized by low yields,” says Gaja. “2004 is one of those rare vintages like 1964 and 1990 where quality is high even though yields were generous as well. I think 2004 is a very elegant vintage. It is much easier to achieve opulence in the wines, but finesse is always much more elusive.”