Community Tasting Notes 10

• Cailles wrote: 96 points

  December 31, 2023 - 20 Top Wines of the 1983 Vintage: Three Italian heavyweights side by side. My favorite was the ethereal, vibrant Gaja Costa Russi (96pts). Perfect elegance, light as a feather, exceptional precision and with a persisting, pure fruit core. Gaja in a classic, not modern style. If only all Barolos would age as gracefully as this bottle. The Soldera (94pts) unfolded in a kaleidoscope of complexity, dense and demanding, requiring more time than we had to fully appreciate its multifaceted nature, however, slightly tinged with an elusive aging note (a mere hint of soy sauce). Meanwhile, the Pepe Montepulciano VV (92pts), a recent cellar release, showed incredibly young, displaying an intense, almost overpowering fruit core challenging to decipher fully. This wine, too, needs more time than we had to be fully savored.
  
  TN: My expectations for this wine were modest, yet it emerged as one of the stars of the tasting. Its ethereal nature, lightness, elegance, and sheer purity of flavors were standout features. The heart of the wine is intense, fresh red berries, enveloped in nuances of rose petals, herbs, tobacco, and exquisite minerality. These intense, layered aromas are delivered with extraordinary finesse, as if crafted with the finest brushstrokes. The ethereal structural frame is to die for. Impressively, it shows no signs of decline. Truly a ‘wow’ experience.
  
  Decanting: Quick double decant to remove the sediment 7-8 hours prior to consumption, which seemed perfect.

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• G_H wrote: 95 points

  November 25, 2023 - 40 years on: A global 1983 retrospective: Liquid butter, cherries, fresh. Great wine!

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• sirpat00 wrote: 93 points

  November 25, 2023 - 1983 vintage horizontal with >20 wines, mostly from Bordeaux. Key observations: 1/ Acceptable vintage for Champagne with DP over-delivering, 2/ Laville Haut Brion is a masterpiece among the whites, 3/ Bordeaux is going strong at 40 years of age with stand-outs Latour and Margaux. 4/ No need to chase any Napa’s from the vintage, 5/ off-piste Italians kept up impressively with Soldera an undisputed medalist.
  
  Tasting note:
  Double-decanted. Charcoal, sweet and fresh red berry fruit as well as signature rose water notes. Adding tobacco and leather with a bit of time. Nicely settled and still fresh on the palate, but maybe not perfectly harmonious.

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• MQuentel@web.de Likes this wine: 98 points

  September 23, 2021 - What a dream wine moment last night. This almost 40-year-old Nebbiolo from a perfect bottle may be called the archetype of a Barbaresco. The color is a very transparent, bright red that does not betray the true age of the wine. The deep, delicate bouquet is a complex play of roses, red berries with subtle aromas of cloves, light tobacco leaves and glue. Hard to imagine, but really wonderful in the assemblage of aromas. On the palate a ballerina, floating, airy and yet so sophisticated; with great balance and impressive elegance. The ripe acidity is the base in the structure, the silky, subtle tannins are barely perceptible, yet there. Aromatically exceedingly fine and complex; very Burgundian. 98 points. 2021-2027

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• dnnk88 Likes this wine: 94 points

  January 3, 2020 - 1st 2020 Wine Night @ CHL: Red fruits, sour cherries and as brought up by James - tomato leaf notes. Earthy, forest floor, dried flowers, black tea. This was lively and vibrant still. Balance and rounded. Fascinating. My first Gaja Costa Russi. I’m impressed

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Wine Definition

• Vintage 1983
• Type Red
• Producer Gaja
• Varietal Nebbiolo
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard Costa Russi
• Country Italy
• Region Piedmont
• SubRegion Langhe
• Appellation Barbaresco

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 9 (17%)
• In Cellars 28 (53%)
• Consumed 16 (30%)

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