Full ruby red. Aromas of red cherry, blackberry, liquorice and minerals. Juicy and tightly wound but pliant, offering smooth black and red fruit flavours complicated by liquorice and fresh herbs. Classically dry and long, finishing with supple but firm tannins and a bright floral element.
In 1994 Gaja acquired its first property in Toscana, Pieve Santa Restituta in Montalcino. The property's 16 hectares (40 acres) of vineyards producing two wines that are Brunello di Montalcino, with exceptions such as in 2005 which was estimated by Gaja as a lesser vintage, and a single Brunello was produced.The Gaja winery was founded in 1859 by Giovanni Gaja, the Gaja family having arrived from Spain during the 17th century. The family Gaja opened a tavern in Barbaresco, serving its wines with the food. At the end of the 19th century, Gaja wines were bottled and supplied to the Italian army in Abyssinia.
In 1937, Giovanni Gaja, grandson of the founder, first put the name Gaja in big red letters on his bottles' labels.
The firm progressed following World War II as Giovanni Gaja made a significant series of vineyard purchases in terms of scale and vineyard quality. Also cited as an important influence to the firm's early success is the mother of Giovanni Gaja, Clotilda Rey, who instilled the principles of working to achieve high quality to attract the desired clientele, and set high prices to manifest the prestige of the product. Gaja is an Italian wine producer from the Piemonte region in the district of Langhe, chiefly producing a number of Barbaresco and Barolo wines, and later diversified into Brunello di Montalcino and "Super Tuscan" production. Its current owner and president Angelo Gaja is credited with developing techniques that have revolutionised winemaking in Italy, and terms such as "the undisputed king of Barbaresco", and "the man who dragged Piedmont into the modern world" have been applied to him, and whose Barbaresco wine is considered a status symbol on a par with Château Lafite Rothschild or Champagne Krug.
