Gaja Barbaresco 2021

97 POINTS: Audrey Frick, Jeb Dunnuck
97 POINTS: Kerin O'Keefe, Wine Enthusiast
96 POINTS: Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
96 POINTS: Veronelli
96 POINTS: Heiner Lobenberg
95 POINTS: James Suckling

14% Abv, 100% Nebbiolo
“Angelo Gaja’s Barbaresco 2021 is a wine with poise and grace that has a lot to offer. The expressive spicy and floral notes are the first to open, but what really stands out is the nuance and delineation of the wine. The transparency is unmistakable. Sweet red cherries, mint, cinnamon and rose petals develop in the glass and add further nuance. The flavor is balanced and spicy, the tannins are firm and the finish is precise and long. This muscular monument of a red wine certainly needs a few more years of bottle aging, but with a little patience it will transform into pure elegance. Simply put, the 2021 is one of the best Gaja Barbarescos in recent memory.”
— Recommended, Superiore.de

“A brightly jeweled ruby hue, the 2021 Barbaresco is super-expressive, with loads of wild raspberries that leap from the glass along with notes of strawberries, pressed roses, fresh orange, and violet. As it opens, it even picks up some spice box, cigar incense, and cherry notes. Crystalline in nature and ripe, this nextlevel red delivers ripe, sweet tannins, great tension, and fresh, vibrant acidity, without any austerity. A luxury racecar, it’s fantastic and possibly the wine of the year. Drink 2025-2055.”
— 97 Points, Audrey Frick, Jeb Dunnuck

“The 2021 classic Barbaresco from Gaja is drop-dead gorgeous. Made with 14 estate vineyards that are vinified separately before being assembled into the final blend, it’s all about finesse, delivering sensations of juicy raspberry, red cherry, cinnamon, camphor and white pepper before a long, star anise and saline mineral close. Taut, refined tannins and bright acidity provide the age-worthy structure. Drink 2027–2036.”
— 97 Points, Kerin O'Keefe, Wine Enthusiast

“A pure embodiment of Nebbiolo elegance, opening with tantalizing aromas of ripe red berries, violet petals and earthy undertones. The palate leaps forward with flavors of juicy cherries, plums and a touch of spice. A chalky minerality sits at the core, with fine-grained tannins creating a perfectly balanced structure, each part of the wine is precise and flows effortlessly into the next. A wine to explore today, but leave to cellar for decades to come.”
— Wine Enthusiast

“This has been an epic vintage and the entire Gaja family is ready to praise it. The 2021 Barbaresco presents itself with aromas of sweet cherry framed by spice, earthy notes and elegant, sweet tannins. In keeping with the character of the vintage, this wine shows juicy, balanced and not overripe fruit. It has depth and volume.”
— 96 Points, Monica Larner, Wine Advocate

“Bright ruby red. The nose is intensely fruity with ripe strawberries, sweet raspberries, blackcurrants, fragrant violets and ethereal herbs. Aromatically, this year's wine is almost lavishly opulent, full-bodied and open - it takes me straight into its arms! Experience shows that wines like the 2016s will close up a little in a few years and open up again after around ten years. After the initial, intense wave of fruit, the wine's many fine tannins linger on the tongue. Firm yet ripe and delicate, they give this Barbaresco the immense structure of a great vintage. In the mouth it is almost monumental! Rosehips, cranberries and sour cherries with a hint of bitter herbs, white nougat and the delicate spice of white limestone. At the moment, this great wine is not giving everything away due to its monumental structure; it deserves a few years in the cellar. Great stuff!”
—96+ Points, Heiner Lobenberg

14% ABV