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Cult status. And it's not just stars and starlets who have achieved it. Wines can also achieve it. This is demonstrated by the fine wines of the famous Gaja winegrowing dynasty from Piedmont, which are world-famous. Simply because they are exceptionally good.

A myth is usually created in retrospect. Then, when the story is told, concluded and its magnificence can only be properly grasped and understood. But as it is with rules: they also have exceptions. Angelo Gaja is one of them. For he has already become a myth during his lifetime. One who brought about changes whose scope not only changed his family's heritage, but also the entire winegrowing industry in Piedmont. For he recognised that it is not weakness to emulate a role model. Rather, it is wise to learn from the experiences of others, to use their insights and implement them in one's own way. And so, as early as the 1960s, Angelo began to raise his vines in wire frames according to the French model. He relied on low yields and meticulous clone selection. He also changed decisive moments in the wine cellar, introduced temperature control during fermentation and also the ageing of all wines in new barriques. What followed was an outcry throughout the region, because all this was not in keeping with the Piedmontese winemaking tradition. But success proved Angelo Gaja right, because the winery's unique cuvées are among Italy's elite. Even in the entire wine world.

100 percent Piedmont

It is extraordinary to witness how a winery that was founded more than 150 years ago can undergo such an unbelievable transformation through a single generation. A change whose base is in Barbaresco in a small municipality in the province of Cuneo and has grown into a winery with more than 100 hectares of vineyards. These are located without exception in selected and the very best sites in the Piedmontese areas of Barbaresco, Treiso, Barolo, Alba, La Morra, Montalcino and Bolgheri. Looking at the vineyard mirror, the demanding grape variety Nebbiolo leads the multifaceted grape kaleidoscope. It is predestined for the subsoil of clay and limestone that characterises the region. But Barbera, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc also thrive under the watchful eye of the team in the vineyard to produce excellent and extremely high-quality grapes. Refinement, diversity and creativity - these are the attributes that ennoble the traditional winery - and so it is hardly surprising that these elemental forces flow into the approximately 350,000 bottles that are bottled annually.

The next generation

It should be noted in passing that the Gaja family owns - in addition to the mother winery of the same name in Piedmont - two other equally renowned wineries: Pieve di Santa Restituta in the Brunello region and Ca' Marcanda in Bolgheri. In the future, all three wineries will be managed by Angelo Gaia's three children - Gaia, Rossana and the latecomer Giovanni. For the wine-loving trio embodies the fifth generation of one of the world's greatest winegrowing families, which has never lost sight of the essentials despite all its successes. This is also shown by one of the favourite wines of family ambassador Gaia Gaja. It is one of the flagships of the house - the Barbaresco. Her favourite is the 1989 vintage, which reminds her of all the many special smells of her homeland. Of the spice of the earth, which made the myth possible in the first place and still nourishes it today with all its originality.

Online tasting with GAJA

We cordially invite you to get to know this great winery with 2020 celebrities at our wein.plus:club online tastings in February. Places, which are available for B2B and end consumers, are very limited.

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