Gaja
White wines 2018

Color: golden yellow

Smell: citrus notes, white flowers and honey

Taste: elegant and soft, with excellent acidity

Food matches: grilled fish, shellfish, excellent also with aged and blue cheeses.

Maturation: fermentation in steel tanks, aging in barrique

Gaja's "Rossj Bass" is a wine produced entirely with Chardonnay grapes, in a territory that has greatly enhanced the Langhe region, areas dedicated to the cultivation of vines. It is a unique, fascinating and elegant product, a hallmark of the Gaja winery.

Gaja

Angelo Gaja, now also known as "the King of Barbaresco", entered the family business, founded in 1859 by his great-grandfather Giovanni, in 1961, after completing his studies at the Oenological Institute of Alba, the University of Montpellier and at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Turin. Following several trips to France, and after several discussions with his father, Angelo Gaja succeeded in introducing and developing some absolutely revolutionary practices in the context of the Langhe and Nebbiolo winemaking in this case, such as malolactic fermentation, l use of French barriques, temperature-controlled fermentation and cultivation of international vines. Furthermore, from 1961, he began the first experiments with thinning in the vineyard as well as the separate vinification of the grapes from the individual plots: Sorí San Lorenzo, Sorí Tildin and Costa Russi. In 1978 the Darmagi vineyard, traditionally cultivated in Nebbiolo, was replanted in Cabernet Sauvignon. This action was not dictated by Angelo's passion for Cabernet Sauvignon, but by the desire to demonstrate the great Italian wine potential to the world through the production of a great Cabernet aged in barriques. The case of the Darmagi vineyard was not the only one, in fact they followed the Chardonnay plant in the Gaja & Rey vineyard and also Sauvignon in the Alteni di Brassica vineyard. A white fly. Angelo Gaja has always been considered a modernist in a land of traditionalists, therefore, as expected, in the first years of activity there was no lack of criticism addressed to him; however, some clarifications in this regard are necessary. Unlike other modernists, in fact, Angelo Gaja makes an extremely moderate use of new wood; the maceration of the reds lasts up to 30 days, according to tradition and lastly it should be remembered that although the wines for the first year refine in new barriques for a third, the aging process always ends in large Slavonian or chestnut barrels, some of the which are between 80 and 120 years old. With the 1996 vintage Angelo Gaja deliberately declassified his DOCG Barbaresco and Barolo wines (with the exception of a label) to the DOC Langhe Rosso. Rumors wanted the decision to be made in order to cut Nebbiolo with international grapes. Gaja always denied, declaring on the contrary that, among the various reasons that had led him to make this decision, there was the will to be free to be able to include a small percentage of Barbera in his wines (typically a 5-6%) to support acidity. To date Anegelo Gaja, in addition to the properties in Barbaresco and Barolo, has vineyards in Montalcino (Pieve Santa Restituta) and Bolgheri (Ca 'Marcanda); his reputation is firmly established and he is certainly considered one of the greatest protagonists of the world wine scene. Recall that in 1985 Wine Spectator defined Gaja wines as nothing less than "the best wines ever produced in Italy".