1989 Gaja Barolo Sperss

Community Tasting Notes (74) Avg Score: 94.0 points

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  3/31/2024 - Leto South wrote: 95 Points

  Decanted 3 hrs. Cork perfect. Pale edges, Fairly dark for a Nebb, clear (almost no sediment). Dark red. Red fruit, tobacco, licorice, asian spices, candied orange peel. Full body w excellent acidity, very fine tannins, plenty of red fruit (cherries), some chocolate. Very long, complex aftertaste. No sign of 14% alcohol. Still riding high, although the fruit has begun to dry out a bit. Lovely!

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  3/17/2024 - Bullethead Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Powerful barolo that is still youthful

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  12/29/2023 - NYC_Maenad Likes this wine:

  Stood for several weeks. Decanted gently off moderate sediment about 1 hour before serving in Conterno Sensory stems. Color began brick red, but shifted over the course of the evening to much more garnet with only slight bricking at the edges. Completely clean of sediment, beautifully clear. The nose shed some early hints of maderization to materialize as fully intact, displaying dark berry fruit, some licorice, tar and leather, herbs and spices. This struck me as very much in line with the classic 1989 profile - structured, a little stark and brooding but deep and rich. Dare I call it masculine? There's some Gaja expression for sure, but nothing that put me off, no oak spice getting in the way for me. The mouthfeel was slightly nubby, velvety, unfolding on the tongue over the course of a sip. I liked the depth here more than the length, as there was a little falling off at the finish. This example was nicely balanced for my palate, with plenty of fruit/tannin/acid, nothing sticking out. I think this wine has a long life ahead of it, and will continue to develop for at least another decade, but that there's plenty to be enjoyed at this stage in development. Beautiful barolo, a treat with Flannery steaks as the year rolls towards its end.

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  10/13/2023 - Nanda wrote: 92 Points

  Single blind 89 Gaja Horizontal. Not at the same level of completeness or interest as the three Barbaresco wines, but lots to like here just in a more coarse, burly and bold style. Could develop some of those nuances with additional time in the cellar as it's not showing peak drinking yet.

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  10/13/2023 - acyso wrote: 90 Points

  Barbaresco vs. Barolo (Chicago, IL): Served single blind. Clearly the odd man out here. Candied and slightly confected qualities to the red fruit here. Relatively high-toned and a distinctly modernist bent compared to the Barbarescos (which while not quite traditionalist where never over the top). This is one of the Piedmont pairs where I think the style of the wines is truly very different between the appellations.

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