Gaja indeed---talk about successful marketing. Gaja & Bruno Ceretto in
Piemonte and the Marchese della Incisa (Sassacaia) and Antinori have done
more to raise the prices of the best Italian wines then anyone, even Robert
Parker. When I first met Gaja in 1982 he was represented by a small
importer, Gabriella Cantoni who introduced his wines in most markets, he
told me then he thought if Bordeaux and Burgundy could command top dollar in
the American market, why should the best of Italy. At the time only Biondi
Santi approached the $100 mark. By the time I returned in 1985, Gaja had
already created his cru's and moved beyond Gabriella for distribution and
Bruno Ceretto told me that his 1982 Bricco Rocche Bricco Roche would retail
for $100 in the US. This is when Sassicaia was $70. They transformed the
pricing of Italian Wine and when Mark DeGrazia had his clients create great
Vino di Tavolas (aka Super-Tavola) like Clerico Arte and Il Palazzino Grosso
Sanese in barrique a whole new market exploded.

In 1985 Gaja squared off against the late Luigi Veronelli about his bottling
of Cabernet Sauvignon and chardonnay at an intimate dinner for 100 catered
by Gualitero Marchese at Vin Italy. Many of the producers there who sided
with Veronelli later produced barrique wine and even chardonnays!

On one hand I abhor paying $200 for a bottle of Gaja's good stuff, but
salute him for evening the international playing field.

wrote in message
oups.com...
One word:

Gaja.


Chris Sprague wrote:
As something fun to do, my friends and I have discussed pooling our
money on occasion to obtain and drink something like a Bordeaux first
growth, a Burgundy grand cru, a Penfolds Grange, 1963 or 1977 Vintage
Port, etc. We all love wine, but currently our financial situations
do
not warrant purchasing these things on our own really, or at least,
very infrequently. $50 seems to be the upper limit for most of us,
and
I've been known to splurge around in the $100 range on occasion, but
for wines meant to be shared, why not pool our resources for a truly
great bottle?

In order to turn such tasting events into a more frequent thing, we'd
like to start going in on them together, and then cooking a nice meal
to go with it. Recent discussions on what to buy first have centered
on the fact that hardly any $200 bottles are enjoyable upon release.
Of course, we can get older bottles through various channels, but
that
can be difficult up here in Maine. The few stores in Portland
(Maine)
that stock great wines from great, historic vintages keep them at
warm,
retail storage for months on end.

If you had to select a bottle in this range to drink more or less
immediately, what would you choose? Or is finding a recent vintage
ready to drink not worth the effort? Should we just go straight to
the
"used" market, so to speak, and search out properly aged bottles?

In that realm, what are some suggestions for circa $200 bottles to
drink? Note: we're pretty big Bordeaux/Barolo/Super Tuscan type
drinkers. We'd all also love to try Penfolds Grange sometime.

Thanks in advance,
- Chris