93
Antonio Galloni - Wine Advocate
Gaja’s 2003 Barbaresco may well challenge its
bigger siblings as the most successful of these new releases. Made
in a style that combines expressive aromatics, the ripeness of the
vintage and classic structure, it is an awesome effort. Though it
offers plenty of super-ripe fruit and notable concentration, it
never comes across as being heavy and displays exceptional overall
balance. Gaja’s Barbaresco rarely shows this well so early
in the game and my guess is that my score may end up being conservative.
“Oddly enough it was our worst-exposed parcels that performed
best in '03, although I suppose that makes sense given that these
plots were more protected from the sun. We did a very severe selection
in the cellar and in '03 we bottled a small amount of Barbaresco,
roughly 30,000 bottles as compared to our normal amount of 70,000
bottles. We did a similarly stringent selection with our single-vineyard
wines,” adds Gaja.
Anticipated maturity: '09 - '21. |