I attended a tasting of a number of Gaja's 1997 offerings. Most of these wines
are made in limited quantities and extraordinary prices so I thought I'd share
my impressions.

1997 Barberesco (5000 cases) Nose of red raspberry and plum with hints of
mineral. Fairly ripe on the palate with a bit of tar at the finish. Fairly
tannic and powerful yet well balanced.

1997 Sori San Lorenzo Langhe (800 cases) This is a huge full bodied wine with
red raspberry and blackberry notes and a large dose of tar on the nose.
Massive and full bodied on the palate with a touch of roses and herbs on the
finish. Very chewy tannins.

1997 Sori Tilden Langhe (800 cases) Elegant and refined. Rich flavors of
raspberry and earth. Very smooth, fine tannic structure. Approachable now but
will improve with age.

1997 Costa Russi Langhe (800 cases) This is a wine to get your arms around.
Big, ripe and chewy with plenty of tar and ripe berry notes with an undertone
of mineral. The finish goes on for a half an hour! My favorite of the group.

We also tasted the 1989 Barberesco which was old and tired and the 1999
Barberesco which was quite close to the 1997 in many respects. The 1999 had a
bit more ripeness in the fruit and a bit more tang in the acidity but not the
smoothness of the 1997 which may be a function of it's age.
Bi!!

(RV WRLee) wrote:

Sori Tilden
^
i!

Sorì Tildìn, to be exact.

M.

(RV WRLee) wrote:

Sori Tilden
^
i!

Sorì Tildìn, to be exact.

M.

Sori Tilden
^
i!

Sorì Tildìn, to be exact.

Thank you for the correction. Spellchecker doesn't catch many proper names and
I used the spelling provided by the merchant in his handout.
Bi!!

Sori Tilden
^
i!

Sorì Tildìn, to be exact.

Thank you for the correction. Spellchecker doesn't catch many proper names and
I used the spelling provided by the merchant in his handout.
Bi!!

(RV WRLee) wrote in message ...

We also tasted the 1989 Barberesco which was old and tired

I attended a tasting at the winery in July which was finished with the
'89 Barbaresco. I didn't find it too old and tired, but I wasn't
knocked out of my seat either.

What did knock me out was the 1997 Gaia & Rey Chardonnay (to stick to
the '97s) The first pour and sip were good. Initial impression of
bananas. Hint of caramel. Very good. But then it just opened like
mad: I kept going back to it as the tasting progressed and I would
say that it couldn't have been more than 45 minutes or so and it was
just a terrific, terrific wine. Tropical notes, perhaps a tropical
creme brulee... and a sort of musky almost animal thing going on. I
write the worst tasting notes ever! Must be why I never venture forth
with them. Embarrassing.
e.winemonger
www.winemonger.com

(RV WRLee) wrote in message ...

We also tasted the 1989 Barberesco which was old and tired

I attended a tasting at the winery in July which was finished with the
'89 Barbaresco. I didn't find it too old and tired, but I wasn't
knocked out of my seat either.

What did knock me out was the 1997 Gaia & Rey Chardonnay (to stick to
the '97s) The first pour and sip were good. Initial impression of
bananas. Hint of caramel. Very good. But then it just opened like
mad: I kept going back to it as the tasting progressed and I would
say that it couldn't have been more than 45 minutes or so and it was
just a terrific, terrific wine. Tropical notes, perhaps a tropical
creme brulee... and a sort of musky almost animal thing going on. I
write the worst tasting notes ever! Must be why I never venture forth
with them. Embarrassing.
e.winemonger
www.winemonger.com