Gorgeous. Cab Sauv that couldn't have come from anywhere but Italy - taut, angular, bright acidity, and bursting with tart black fruit. Just terrific and given the quality it surprises me it flies so far under the radar. Most of my wine friends didn't know much about it - assuming it must be from Gaja's Tuscan holdings. I'd absolutely buy more, if it weren't for the price point.
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Tasted blind side by side with the Spottswoode 1991 and we really think they were mixed by accident by the restaurant. So we post both notes here( much like the Spottswoode) . We discussed this a lot with the tasting group but as the wine bottles were empty we could not verify.
Wine 1 and wine of the evening. We guessed Napa early 90s from a classic wine maker ( was very similar to the correctly guessed Dominus 90). Well evolved wine with an earthy feel, cedar, light tobacco , well evolved but carried still a good density of fruitwith lots of depth and complexity. An amazing wine and an easy 97. Revealed to be the Gaja Darmagi 97 and if indeed it was then hats off to Mr Gaja as we never really like his overdone style. If this was indeed a mistake and this was the Spottswoode then as expected. 97
Wine 2 . Guessed modern winemaker with a lot of emphasis on ripeness. Guess modernist Napa or bolgheri late 90s. Rich and full, quite intense of the ripeness, still a good residue of oak but well assimilated in many ways. Good wine but not a great one and with a feel that it's either badly kept or well over the hill. 91-92 Was revealed to be the Spottswoode 1991 but we still have our doubts.
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Mid Life Crisis Dinner: Decanted for about an hour. Slightly green notes on the nose and palate. Finish shows ripeness. Not the best showing of Gaja i have had but still very good.
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Splash decanted then decanted at restaurant for about an hour. Drank for the next 2-3 hours. Restraint nose from the beginning to the end, maybe not enough air. More Bordeaux style than Super Tuscan or Cali Cab. Medium finish. My only bottle so I don't know where this is in its cycle.
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Jason's Birthday Wine Night 2015 (Dakota Residence): Smells better than its tastes, notes of pencil lead and shavings, Bordeaux nose (?), black-inky colour, dense and chewy on the palate, feels youngish like a 7-10 year old wine. Detected a hint of leafiness, milk chocolate, dark cherries, and forest floor on the palate.
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Jason's Birthday Wine Night 2015 (Dakota): Tasted blind. Aired for 2 hour in decanter then poured back into bottle and slow-oxed in bottle for another 1.5+ hours before drinking. Appearance is clear, deep ruby colour. Legs. Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with a complex bouquet of graphite, pencil shavings, minerality, sweet baking spices, cedar, blackberry, black cherry, crayons, and sweet earth. On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium+ alcohol, very smooth integrated high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of cassis, ripe black fruits - blackberry, black cherry, sweet spices, graphite. Long finish. Definitely tasted like a Cabernet based wine, but the fruit ripeness wasn't Bordeauxish. Very good quality. Highly complex Cabernet Sauvignon from Piedmont. Still feels like it could easily go another 3-5 years.
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Decanted 90 minutes before service. Dark reddish-black, with the slightest hint of auburn at the rim. On the nose, initially strong reductive port-like elements, but that cleared away quickly to reveal wood and pine notes. On the palate, cigar box, currants, and mid-palate sweetness, with structured tannins on the long finish. This is still going to get better with another 3-5 years, but it's quite seductive right now.
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Pepe bianco, inchiostro, peperoncini verdi e porcini.... che piu cabernet non si puo!!! ma tutto pulitissimo, netto, senza legno o sberleffi baroccheggianti. Palato gentile, medio corpo, non un vinone in ingresso. Mirtilli e more nel sottobosco tra muschio, funghi e pellame. Un' aurora boreale che si espande pungente sulla lingua. Tannino della migliore specie e acidità ancora rinfrescante. Finale commuovente, da masticare....morbidissimo. Anni e anni ancora di evoluzione per un vino elegantissimo.
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This was a masterpiece! Exhuberant nose, fully developed and at peak with cedar, ink, graphite and black fruit. Powerful palate, brooding, black fruit, minerals, graphite, ink, licorice. Long finish. One of the best Cabernets I have ever drank. Quite similar to Pauillac in style but wilder.
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Drank at Sale e Pepe restaurant. Awesome wine! Dark ruby color. Cedar, cassis, ink, graphite and dark cherry on the nose. Complex and powerful, on par with a left bank super-second from a top vintage. Medium to full bodied displaying espresso and chocolate flavours alongside very rich fruit, firm tannins and balancing acidity. Still quite tight, in need of further cellaring to fully unwind. Very long aftertaste. The name of this wine, meaning "what a pitty" in the Piemontese dialect, is originated from Angelo Gaja's father's reaction, when his son announced to him that he had replaced nebbiolo vines with cabernet sauvignon in one of the family's parcels. One of the best cabs I have ever tasted. I wish I could afford a case of these gems but unfortunatelly I cannot. Darmagi!!!
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Sampled 3/3/11. Decanted for 4 hours. It needed it. Classic Gaja Cabernet. Sweet cassis, blackberries, herbs and an earthiness that is unique. Beautiful wine that is now in its prime and will likely be here for at least another half dozen years.
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Drinking wonderfully. Needed an hour to open and changes were ongoing until the last drop (2 hours later). Nose: Dark Plum, leather, earth with hint of mint. Good acidity and well integrated tannins. Steep price for what you get, but a very satisfying drink.
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Excellent bordeaux style effort by Gaja, and this is drinking in full blossom now. Black rasberries and smoked fat with mint. Rich black cherry taste upfront with smooth tannins and charcole in the minute length finish. A serious wine.
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Truffle Dinner, Pinot Tasting, and Piemonte (3x DRC, 2x Gaja, and more): Very, very deep puple in color, this surprises on the nose as the first impression is almost Loire-like with a clear dose of capsicum and green leaves. (I had never known it, but a peek at a published note indicates a tiny shot of cab franc -- makes sense given the nose.) The green element quickly fades into the background to reveal the core of Bordeaux-style without the complexity. There's plenty of sweet oak and cassis and dark sweet berry along with the requisite cedar/cigar box aromas and just a little smoke, but not a lot more. Then again, this is very young and still quite closed. The palate shows the sweetness and fat of the vintage, with good fruit concentration from entry to a long finish. I just wish there was more to it. I've got no experience with how this ages, so I reserve judgment, but at this point this is just a good, sweet, concentrated cab. Only the green notes hint at something more.
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9/14/2018 - Raizes Does not like this wine: 90 Points
很多的泥土和烟熏气，黑色水果的香气闻起来尚算丰富，但入口后明显不足，所以整款酒尝起来有些干瘪平板。酸度、单宁、回味的品质都没有问题，只是有种野心过大而缺乏有效支撑的感觉。
这款酒一直都不是我的菜，加上当日醒酒时间不足，喝起来的愉悦度颇有欠缺。后来特意去查了一下各家酒评人给出的适饮期参考，大部分的预期都未超过2019年，到今年应该说是已到巅峰之末。但是有意思的是，这款酒喝起来其实并无老态，只是陈年发展跟不上酿造初衷而已……
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8/15/2018 - sunnylea57 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Gorgeous. Cab Sauv that couldn't have come from anywhere but Italy - taut, angular, bright acidity, and bursting with tart black fruit. Just terrific and given the quality it surprises me it flies so far under the radar. Most of my wine friends didn't know much about it - assuming it must be from Gaja's Tuscan holdings. I'd absolutely buy more, if it weren't for the price point.
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4/6/2017 - Papies wrote:
Tasted blind side by side with the Spottswoode 1991 and we really think they were mixed by accident by the restaurant. So we post both notes here( much like the Spottswoode) . We discussed this a lot with the tasting group but as the wine bottles were empty we could not verify.
Wine 1 and wine of the evening. We guessed Napa early 90s from a classic wine maker ( was very similar to the correctly guessed Dominus 90). Well evolved wine with an earthy feel, cedar, light tobacco , well evolved but carried still a good density of fruitwith lots of depth and complexity. An amazing wine and an easy 97. Revealed to be the Gaja Darmagi 97 and if indeed it was then hats off to Mr Gaja as we never really like his overdone style. If this was indeed a mistake and this was the Spottswoode then as expected. 97
Wine 2 . Guessed modern winemaker with a lot of emphasis on ripeness. Guess modernist Napa or bolgheri late 90s.
Rich and full, quite intense of the ripeness, still a good residue of oak but well assimilated in many ways. Good wine but not a great one and with a feel that it's either badly kept or well over the hill. 91-92
Was revealed to be the Spottswoode 1991 but we still have our doubts.
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1/11/2017 - Yagil wrote: 95 Points
dark opaque red-purple
excellent Bordeaux nose of dark ripe fruits, leather, tobacco, sous-bois & truffles
full bodied, excellent firm tannins, excellent balance & outstanding harmony, superb structure, excellent complexity, light liquorice flavours, rich dark fruits flavours, perfect barrel oak balance, seducing BX finsih and aftertaste!
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9/29/2016 - astroman wrote:
Mid Life Crisis Dinner: Decanted for about an hour. Slightly green notes on the nose and palate. Finish shows ripeness. Not the best showing of Gaja i have had but still very good.
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7/15/2016 - grafighter Likes this wine: 93 Points
Splash decanted then decanted at restaurant for about an hour. Drank for the next 2-3 hours. Restraint nose from the beginning to the end, maybe not enough air. More Bordeaux style than Super Tuscan or Cali Cab. Medium finish. My only bottle so I don't know where this is in its cycle.
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6/19/2015 - Davyd Chong wrote: 92 Points
Jason's Birthday Wine Night 2015 (Dakota Residence): Smells better than its tastes, notes of pencil lead and shavings, Bordeaux nose (?), black-inky colour, dense and chewy on the palate, feels youngish like a 7-10 year old wine. Detected a hint of leafiness, milk chocolate, dark cherries, and forest floor on the palate.
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6/19/2015 - Derek Darth Taster wrote: 95 Points
Jason's Birthday Wine Night 2015 (Dakota): Tasted blind. Aired for 2 hour in decanter then poured back into bottle and slow-oxed in bottle for another 1.5+ hours before drinking.
Appearance is clear, deep ruby colour. Legs.
Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with a complex bouquet of graphite, pencil shavings, minerality, sweet baking spices, cedar, blackberry, black cherry, crayons, and sweet earth.
On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium+ alcohol, very smooth integrated high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of cassis, ripe black fruits - blackberry, black cherry, sweet spices, graphite. Long finish.
Definitely tasted like a Cabernet based wine, but the fruit ripeness wasn't Bordeauxish.
Very good quality. Highly complex Cabernet Sauvignon from Piedmont. Still feels like it could easily go another 3-5 years.
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1/1/2015 - jshufelt wrote: 94 Points
Decanted 90 minutes before service. Dark reddish-black, with the slightest hint of auburn at the rim. On the nose, initially strong reductive port-like elements, but that cleared away quickly to reveal wood and pine notes. On the palate, cigar box, currants, and mid-palate sweetness, with structured tannins on the long finish. This is still going to get better with another 3-5 years, but it's quite seductive right now.
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7/27/2014 - galenico Likes this wine: 95 Points
Pepe bianco, inchiostro, peperoncini verdi e porcini.... che piu cabernet non si puo!!! ma tutto pulitissimo, netto, senza legno o sberleffi baroccheggianti.
Palato gentile, medio corpo, non un vinone in ingresso. Mirtilli e more nel sottobosco tra muschio, funghi e pellame.
Un' aurora boreale che si espande pungente sulla lingua.
Tannino della migliore specie e acidità ancora rinfrescante.
Finale commuovente, da masticare....morbidissimo.
Anni e anni ancora di evoluzione per un vino elegantissimo.
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2/28/2014 - sigge Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dark red-brownish. Old fire place, oak and some eucalyptus. Harmonic with a long nice aftertase dominated by vanilla.
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4/1/2013 - Gian wrote: 92 Points
Unfortunately I have drank this bottle 2 weeks ago and I haven't take notes. I just rmember a great nose and a silky mouth
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3/28/2013 - Stefanos T. wrote: 97 Points
This was a masterpiece! Exhuberant nose, fully developed and at peak with cedar, ink, graphite and black fruit.
Powerful palate, brooding, black fruit, minerals, graphite, ink, licorice. Long finish.
One of the best Cabernets I have ever drank. Quite similar to Pauillac in style but wilder.
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3/28/2013 - Yiannis wrote: 97 Points
Drank at Sale e Pepe restaurant. Awesome wine! Dark ruby color. Cedar, cassis, ink, graphite and dark cherry on the nose. Complex and powerful, on par with a left bank super-second from a top vintage. Medium to full bodied displaying espresso and chocolate flavours alongside very rich fruit, firm tannins and balancing acidity. Still quite tight, in need of further cellaring to fully unwind. Very long aftertaste. The name of this wine, meaning "what a pitty" in the Piemontese dialect, is originated from Angelo Gaja's father's reaction, when his son announced to him that he had replaced nebbiolo vines with cabernet sauvignon in one of the family's parcels. One of the best cabs I have ever tasted. I wish I could afford a case of these gems but unfortunatelly I cannot. Darmagi!!!
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3/19/2012 - mxpbuy wrote: 94 Points
Sampled 3/3/11. Decanted for 4 hours. It needed it. Classic Gaja Cabernet. Sweet cassis, blackberries, herbs and an earthiness that is unique. Beautiful wine that is now in its prime and will likely be here for at least another half dozen years.
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5/14/2011 - Baron Samedi wrote:
Prominent cedar/cigarbox and dark fruit. A tad over-extracted. Will see how this turns out on day 2.
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8/23/2009 - Whinojb wrote: 92 Points
Drinking wonderfully. Needed an hour to open and changes were ongoing until the last drop (2 hours later). Nose: Dark Plum, leather, earth with hint of mint. Good acidity and well integrated tannins. Steep price for what you get, but a very satisfying drink.
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4/4/2009 - socidelvino wrote: 90 Points
Gaja 150 year Celebration at Vinitaly 2009 (Vinitaly, Verona Fiere, Italy): Tasted at Gaja 150 year Celebration at Vinitaly 2009
Eye: dark violet. Nose: licorice, cassis. Mouth: full bodied, cherries, smoke.
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12/14/2007 - idrinkvino wrote: 94 Points
Excellent bordeaux style effort by Gaja, and this is drinking in full blossom now. Black rasberries and smoked fat with mint. Rich black cherry taste upfront with smooth tannins and charcole in the minute length finish. A serious wine.
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12/1/2005 - jrufusj wrote:
Truffle Dinner, Pinot Tasting, and Piemonte (3x DRC, 2x Gaja, and more): Very, very deep puple in color, this surprises on the nose as the first impression is almost Loire-like with a clear dose of capsicum and green leaves. (I had never known it, but a peek at a published note indicates a tiny shot of cab franc -- makes sense given the nose.) The green element quickly fades into the background to reveal the core of Bordeaux-style without the complexity. There's plenty of sweet oak and cassis and dark sweet berry along with the requisite cedar/cigar box aromas and just a little smoke, but not a lot more. Then again, this is very young and still quite closed. The palate shows the sweetness and fat of the vintage, with good fruit concentration from entry to a long finish. I just wish there was more to it. I've got no experience with how this ages, so I reserve judgment, but at this point this is just a good, sweet, concentrated cab. Only the green notes hint at something more.
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