2009 Darmagi

Never one to rest on his laurels, Angelo Gaja continues to fine-tune his viticulture and vinification with his two daughters and son. He actually mentioned the word "retirement" during my visit but it's hard to imagine this dynamo slowing down, much less standing aside for the next generation. Indeed, on my recent tour of the Langhe, two much younger winemakers at other estates mentioned not being able to keep up with Gaja on one of his vineyard walks. In 2008 Gaja got rid of his huge old casks and replaced them with big new casks, although he made it clear that he broke in the new barrels in '08 and '09 by using them "for the bad part of the wines." But with vintage 2010, he began using these barrels for his best wines and also introduced some tonneaux. With the 2011 vintage and especially 2012 Gaja is working more reductively and has cut the number of rackings for his big nebbiolo wines from four to two. He also plans to work entirely by gravity in 2013.Gaja is also moving steadily in the direction of biodynamic farming, although he does not believe that these techniques are a magic bullet. "Bio is like a good windshield wiper," he told me. "It can't keep the rain from falling but it helps you make your way." He describes 2011 and 2010 as having similar acidity (acid levels were higher here in years like 2006 ad 2001). Both years, he went on, produced wines with more acidity than tannins, while in 2009 it was the other way around. In fact, some 2009s can have underripe tannins, he noted. Gaja describes his big 2010 nebbiolo wines as "precise, but not opulent or austere," a description that could equally well apply to red Burgundies from the same growing season.

Gaja. Everything changes and nothing changes. Angelo and Lucia Gaja seem well on their way to achieving something that is very rare among Piedmont's top estates, all of which remain family owned. Dealing successfully with generational succession. Gaia Gaja and her sister Rossana are now ever present, while their young brother, Giovanni, is off to college and seems destined for an important role himself. And the wines? They remain reference points for quality and consistency. The 2009 reds don't quite have the thrill that I often find in cooler, more vibrant years like 2008 and 2010, but in exchange they should offer years of pure pleasure pretty much right out of the gate.