Angelo Gaja's
PIEVE SANTA RESTITUTA
Located in the southern portion of the Montalcino
region, Angelo once told me he bought the place because it neighbors Gianfranco
Soldera's Azienda Agricola Case Basse.
"His wines are amazingly complex." Gaja said.
I'm sure Angelo was also enchanted by Soldera's prices. The Gaja wines, at
$150 a bottle, look rather reasonable compared to the Case Basse pricing!
We visited this property on a lovely sunny day in February of 2003.
The estate covers about 40 hectares, with just 16 of them planted with vines.
This chimney has an "M" for "Montalcino" on it!
Ilaria Marchetti shows us around the cellars.
Gaja, though a modernist, does have respect for tradition. He is most
interested in elevating quality.
The Brunello wines spend about a year in small French oak barrels and a year in
these: Botti Grandi.
I recall visiting Gaja's Barbaresco facility many years ago and noticing
the barrels were "painted." It seems Angelo noticed the colored
or stained cooperage on his trips to France and wanted to have barrels which
resembled those in the French cellars. So he had them painted.
Of course, the French barrels were wine-stained from their being topped up with
red wine.
We found some nice old bottles resting in the cellars. I always carry a
corkscrew, so this was mighty tempting!
Our pal Gianpaolo Chiettini felt he resembled, somewhat, the large sized
cooperage in the cellar.
My notebook was nearly filled by the time we made this tour stop!
Ilaria pours a nice set of wines.
The 1995 Renina was tannic and, to my taste, out of balance. It displayed
a curious dried mushroom note that was not especially enticing.
Milanese wine authority Carlo Perini is busy evaluating the Brunello wines.
The 1998 Renina was showing marvelously well! Here is a wine displaying a
terrific nose that was very complex. The wine displayed earthy notes and a
woodsy quality. It's mildly tannic on the palate, but certainly
approachable now. I thought the wine had nice length, too. I preferred
it to the 1997 Renina which had notes of resin and eucalyptus. The 1997
might be a bit more supple in texture on the palate and a shade softer in the
center and more tannic around the edges.
The 1996 Sugarille is a very good example of Brunello. The nose is quite
deep with smoky notes and a hint of a leathery quality. It's still fairly
tannic though there are notes the wine is somewhat evolved. It's very deep
and rather firm on the palate.
The name plate on the building still has the name of the previous owner.
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