1996 Gaja Barbaresco

Community Tasting Notes (70) Avg Score: 93.1 points

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  12/23/2023 - SussexRH Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Quite closed on day one, but by day two it’s singing: clove, spice, fig, Christmas cake, violet, truffle, iodine, tar, rose petal, a top note of menthol; palate in perfect balance with ripe, mature tannins giving firm structure, slightly drying on the finish; all in all, in the ideal spot for this wine, just mature enough to have softened completely while maintaining all of its poise and structure.

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  3/16/2023 - JWS84 Likes this wine:

  This was beautiful and a consensus wine of the night. At full maturity, we felt it could still go 5 or more additional years without fading.

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  3/4/2023 - grapenomad wrote: 94 Points

  Always a pleasure to try such an iconic wine, even with a few sips. Moderate garnet in the glass. Of course, by the color the age is quite obvious, but when you start smelling and sipping, you can't believe that this is so old. Lovely florals dominate the nose in form of violets and hibiscus, then transform into dried berry fruit, fresh tobacco, mocha, some shiitake mushroom. Palate is full of life with medium (+) acidity, grippy tannins and moderate alcohol. Everything is in sync and working beautifully together. Benchmark wine of Barbaresco.

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  9/25/2022 - SH Wu wrote: 94 Points

  Everything you'd expect in a barbaresco - leather, tobacco, blue/black fruits and sturdy tannins. It is pretty crazy how young this 1996 feels 26 years later. The age has added tertiary characteristics like mushroom and dirt, while the vibrant, concentrated fruit still show signs of youth.
  
  Even after a night of air, this felt like it still had a decade or two in it. Beautiful wine.

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  7/29/2022 - marcellonegro wrote: 94 Points

  Earthy leather and tobacco, still some primary fruit, cherry, dark plum. Tertiary on nose with mushroom, herb.

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