Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo 2020

Gaja Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo 2020 (Angelo Gaja Sorì San Lorenzo, Barbaresco DOCG) is one of Piedmont's great single-vineyard wines and one of the wines that made Gaja world famous. The 2020 has been rated 99 points by Doctor Wine, 98 by James Suckling and Veronelli, and 97+ by both Wine Advocate and Vinous.

Taste and ageing

2020 is deep and energetic, with rose petals, violet, cherries, tobacco and graphite. The tannins are firm but silky, and the finish is long and mineral. A Barbaresco of great potential that will keep for 25 years or more.

Vineyard and winemaking

Sorì San Lorenzo is a steep, south-facing vineyard of only 3.4 hectares close to the village of Barbaresco. Sorì means south-facing slope in Piedmontese dialect, and San Lorenzo is the patron saint of Alba cathedral, which once owned the vineyard. The wine is 100% Nebbiolo from old vines with small yields. It is aged for around a year in small barrels and then around a year in large oak casks.

About Gaja

Gaja was founded in Barbaresco in 1859. The family bought Sorì San Lorenzo in 1964, and 1967 was the first vintage bottled as a single-vineyard wine. From 1996 to 2012 the wine was sold as Langhe Nebbiolo, but from the 2013 vintage it is once again Barbaresco DOCG. Under Angelo Gaja the house became one of the names that put Piedmont on the world map, and today it is run by the next generation.

Serving

Serve at 16–18 °C in large glasses. If opened young, give it a couple of hours in a decanter.