1989 Darmagi

Wine Details
Producer

Gaja

Place of Origin

Italy

Barbaresco

Piedmont

Color

Red

Grape/Blend

95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc

Reviews & Tasting Notes

00

Drinking Window

2013 - 2021

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Angelo Gaja's 1989s and 1990s are simply glorious. Gaja is frequently criticized, especially in Italy, a country that has an uneasy relationship with success of any kind. To be sure, Gaja likes to mix things up with views that are at times perhaps unnecessarily provocative. Prices have always been a point of contention among the estate's detractors, as even Gaja's father Giovanni sold his own wines at prices considered to be astronomical more than 50 years ago. At the end of the day, though, the only thing that counts is what is in the glass, and the simple truth is that these wines are utterly mind-blowing. Angelo Gaja had at least one big advantage vis-à-vis his neighbors. Gaja began working full-time at his family's winery in 1969, and was followed a year later in 1970 by oenologist Guido Rivella. By the time 1989 came around Gaja and Rivella had been working together for nearly 20 years, and were perfectly positioned to make the most of these two historic harvests, which they certainly did. Gaja was so far ahead of his time that there are plenty producers in Piedmont (and Italy) that still haven't caught up to the groundbreaking wines he made 20 years ago. I have had many of these wines recently in less formal settings and have never been anything less than deeply impressed. Readers fortunate to own these bottles should be thrilled. For his 1989s and 1990s, Gaja carried out the malolactic fermentations in stainless steel and aged the wines for a year in French oak followed by a year in cask, an approach he employs today. Though often labeled a modernist, these wines attest rather eloquently to the glacial aging that is the hallmark of the house style, even if the wines are often flashy upon release. One of the very few critiques I can make is that Sorì San Lorenzo and Sperss are far more consistently profound today than they were 20 years ago, as both have come a long way over the last 20 years. If there is one truism with Gaja, it is that one only needs to taste the Barbaresco to understand the quality of the vintage. When the Barbaresco is truly great (as it is in 1997, 2001, 2004 and 2007) all of the other wines will almost certainly be profound.

Importer Details
Wilson Daniels

Imports to: United States

Address: 1300 Main Street, Suite 300, Napa, CA 94559

Phone: 707.963.9661

Email: sales@wilsondaniels.com

Website: https://wilsondaniels.com