2020 Gaja Barolo 'Sperss' Piedmont

Winemaker Notes: Red garnet color, earthy and savory with pure notes of coal, tobacco, juniper, and sap. On the palate the wine is tense, loaded with energy that will need serious ageing to fully develop. Impressive fruit concentration, with sweet red berries, raspberries, wild strawberry, red currant, plum, blood orange, bark, liquorice. Acidity and tannins lift this wine to its freshest expression.

Sperss is a term affectionately used to denote nostalgia for precious things lost with time – a homage to the origins of the winery and the generations who built it. When the Gaja family decided to stop acquiring fruit from outside growers and bottle only estate-grown grapes, in 1961, it was a bold and difficult move. It would help to ensure a high standard of quality, but it also meant that for the first time in the winery’s history, they would not be able to produce a Barolo. In 1988, nearly three decades after that fateful decision was made, the GAJA winery purchased a 30-acre farm in Serralunga d’Alba and rechristened it Sperss.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM


Jeb Dunnuck - "The 2020 Barolo Sperss is a bright red color and reveals an incredibly floral profile of rose petals and ripe strawberries. Aromatically light on its feet, with a joyous feel, on the palate the structure is more focused and compact, with mineral undertones that weave through with more a defined nature. It needs more time, but this is a fantastic red to drink over the coming 30 years.The Gaja estate was founded in 1859, although it was Angelo Gaja, the fourth-generation winemaker of this Barbaresco estate, who made the innovations that would help shape the region as it is today. The entire family shares responsibilities across their estates. Great attention is paid to their practice of sustainable and regenerative farming. The latest major development for the estate in Piedmont is a brand new winery exclusively dedicated to their still white wine production in Alta Langa, 16 kilometers away from the original estate. It was designed by the Italian architect Giovanni Bo, who the family have worked with since 1982. The vineyards of Gaia & Rey and Brassica will remain the same, but fermentation and production have moved to this location, which was completed in time for the 2023 harvest. There is greater biodiversity in Alta Langa compared to Barolo and Barbaresco, with 60% of the land being undeveloped land and hazelnut farms, and only 40% vineyards, compared to Barbaresco, which has 80% of the land under vine. For this reason, as well as the higher elevations, this area is seeing an influx of attention across the region. In 2015, the family purchased 30 hectares of land that had been planted to hazelnut trees, at an average elevation of 650 meters, which they have converted to vineyard and indigenous plants of the area. Cascina Langa, the historical name for the property, has soils that are rich in sand and tuff, which they believe will be well-suited for adding structure for the white varietals of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. They also planted several other experimental vines to learn what will work well in the region."


Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "Showing the power and the contoured definition that is typical of Serralunga d'Alba, the Gaja 2020 Barolo Sperss is a wine of greater brawn and intensity. Yet its power remains elegantly in line with the character of the vintage that is ultimately more subdued compared to 2019 or the upcoming 2021. It offers a complete photograph of its territory with rusty ferrous notes, orange peel, dark fruit and licorice. There is a fun end note of dark Amarena cherry to conclude. That hint of sweetness ties into elegantly chalky tannins. 97+"


James Suckling - "Very spiced with deep, dark earth and forest aromas of black truffles, bark, mushrooms, licorice and iodine. Full-bodied and very reserved, with a linear and racy palate that goes on for minutes. Gunpowder highlights to the dark fruit and forest floor character. Structured. Try after 2028."


Vinous - "The 2020 Barolo Sperss is a dark, brooding wine. Black fruit, leather, incense, game, gravel and scorched earth convey the essence of Serralunga's seriousness. A touch of small oak torrefaction character actually works well in this wine."