Elegant nose with roses, floral and a red fruit driven core. Palate is balanced between acidity, softened tannins, red fruit and structure. Wine is at an attractive and very enjoyable stage, but still seemed youthful. This has at least 10-15 years further ageing potential.
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This was very nice. Slow ox for 3 hours. Half bottle in the fridge for the night. Dark red core with a slight dark orange'ish edge. Dark mature red/black fruit. Spice. Earth. Tannins still present. Very good balance. Long finish.
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Decanted as per prior notes around 1-1.5 hrs, nose was nice if a bit reticent, palate had good balance between fruit, acid, and tannin, definitely a lot of structure here. While this was maturing it was quite youthful and I imagine will improve further with more time. Very good now with a bit of upside to come I believe. 93-94+
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I insisted on this being decanted and was glad for it. Sat in a carafe for maybe an hour and a half before anyone touched it. Once in the glass, this still looked a little closed and anonymous at first before it slowly blossomed and filled out. Dark in colour, with little transparency. Very attractive tarry, leathery aromas that pulled me right in. Intense, brooding characters of marachisno cherry, asphalt, scorched earth, violets and rosehip. Powerful texture on the palate, supported by a classically coarse, chalky tannin structure. The tannins are both prominent and not prominent depending on how closely you look for them. The power and weight of the fruit was just so distracting and the aromas so enthralling. Still a baby in it's early stages. But nonetheless enjoyable. Once in a lifetime wine.
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Following on the heels of the '01 Gaja Barbaresco, this was definitely was more to my preference. Good balance between the mature dark fruit, acid and tannin here, a nice mouthfeel and medium finish.
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Truffles with the SLDS (CFs): Raspberry, charcoal, spice, cherry and pretty floral notes. Red fruit comes through strongly on the palate, there is plenty of acidity and really good depth to it. Stands up very well in a flight of heavyweights.
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Decanted for 2h. A soft perfumy Nebbiolo in its prime, tons of cranberries and raspberries on the palate. Smooth, understated, and consistent with my previous notes. Balanced with enough acid so that it pairing extremely well with sushi. I wouldn't have dared with a masculine Barolo, but the Conteisa has enough sophistication and balance that it did not compete with the sushi. Awesome palate cleanser between sushi bites instead of pickled ginger!
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Don't have many points of comparison to other aged Barolo, but this was immensely enjoyable- decanted for about 2 hours before serving- cherry pie notes with an incredibly long finish.
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Decanted for 1h at a grant writing meeting with Garth. Soft red fruit and herbal notes on the nose. This is a soft intellectual wine. Beautiful expression of Nebbiolo.
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Decanted for 2h at Thanksgiving. A light to medium bodied Nebbiolo. Soft spices and cinnamon on the nose. Bright tart cherries on the palate with acid attack and faint tannins. Well integrated, feminine, but not super complex. The wine paired well with turkey dinner, and would be excellent with seafood, but lacks the power and intensity to stand up to a solid beef dish or steak.
I can't imagine that this will get any better with further aging.
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Decanted 60 minutes. Clear medium garnet-ruby red. Pure, fresh bouquet of red cherries, stony soil, leather, hints of creosote and roses. Gripping tannins, nice bite. Seems tight and closed, likely to improve. Already excellent. My #2 tonight.
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Deep garnet-purple color. Showing earth, coffee, and black cherry. Very silky tannins and some vanilla, but the new oak style is integrated and subtle. This is a really polished wine and showing great now although I think it might actually improve some more. Really a great vintage for all the Gaja I have tasted.
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An evening of Italian wines with friends (Cleveland): I probably liked this more than the group but it needs time or air. It was pop and pour and that didn't help it. The nose is tight at first but has cherries and dark cherries, tar and oak. Much better on the palate. This is a huge wine with dark cherries, cherries, slightly jammy cherries, with a great balancing of acidity and earthiness. It has a hug mouthfeel, but still a great backbone of acidity to work with the food. I would hold these for a while.
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The balance was perfect. A real gentleman. 2 hr decant but to be honest I don't think it moved much in that time. Still a baby but nothing wrong with popping now.
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Decanted and drank over 2 hrs, but did not really change from initial impression. Very complex nose of fresh and dried fruit, flowers and mixed herbs. Silky mouthfeel with flavors of cherry, raisin, mushroom and earth. Medium-bodied, smooth finish. Nicely integrated and balanced. Did not stand up to the steak as well as I would have hoped - better on it's own.
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New Years 2010 (Graney's house in Dana Point, CA): Ligth color like a pinot noir in the decanter (1 hour). Very silky tannis and velvet mouth feel. Licorice in the mid-palate. A very sophisticated wine, my first Gaja and I was impressed.
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Soft nose of cranberry and strawberry among other red fruits. Mouth of bright red cherry and cranberries. Nicely balanced acidity with a soft finish. A good wine.
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opened, but left in the bottle for just over an hour before drinking, and sampled over an additional 3 hours. beautiful nose, and then...major dropoff on the palate. modern style, which doesn't bother me, but this wine lacks guts, and hardly lives up to my expectations within the context of both the producer and the vintage.
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Nose of baking spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, tar, violets, and caramel apple. The palate has medium+ tannin and acid and shows plums, spice, nutmeg and sour cherries and is so subtly fabulous! The finish is long and elegant with layers of sensuality! Awesome wine! 96points
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Tasting Group Dinner - Piedmont (Our House): The nose is very ripe, and shows an off-putting hint of VA/paint thinner. Spice, dark fruit, and loads of new oak. Really young and tight. Seems promising, but tough to evaluate.
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Piedmont at Siggy's: It's really unfair to flight this against the '96 and '97 Gajas. Seemed like a barrel sample showing primary red fruit with a healthy dose of oak and not much in the way of secondary aromas. On the palate this rewards with a youthful dose of concentrated red fruit complimented by earth and tobacco flavors. Pure and sweet with a nice long finish and excellent balance. I'd say hands off for at least five more years. Rated 94 based on the raw materials and my optimism for consumption in the future.
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Angelo Gaja at ABS-SP (ABS-SP): Winner of the tasting. 92% nebbiolo and 8% barbera from the Conteisa vineyard in La Morra, Cuneo province. Darker than the others and much more accessible too. Amazing nose, complex, floral,licorice,spices and much more notes. Refined texture, round with great acidity and very fine tannins. Seductive, elegant and surely unique. Lingers a great deal. This wine is a masterpiece.
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This one had the most floral nose of the evening. Again, very approachable now, it is smooth and rich in the mouth with a great finish. The balance and intensity are top-notch.
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Garagiste 2001 Gaja Tasting (Garagiste Warehouse, Seattle, WA): Wow. This was by far the best wine of the flight. Deeper ruby. Very expressive nose with, cherries, plum, spice. I did not get the licorice noted by many others. Balance in the finish with persistence of silky tannins. Showing surprisingly well now. My WOTN.
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Gaja tasting at Garagiste: Compared to those that preceeded it, this was open and approachable. Great concentration and depth. Licorice, plums and spices in great package. Buy.
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12/29/2023 - AndrewWill Likes this wine: 95 Points
Delicious. Tangy red fruit with orange peel and earthy, velvety tannin.
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12/16/2023 - morv Likes this wine: 95 Points
Elegant nose with roses, floral and a red fruit driven core. Palate is balanced between acidity, softened tannins, red fruit and structure. Wine is at an attractive and very enjoyable stage, but still seemed youthful. This has at least 10-15 years further ageing potential.
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11/24/2022 - neilsforest Likes this wine:
Decanted for c3 hours before staring to drink. Lovely nose. Got more balanced / better as evening progressed. Very smooth. A classy wine
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10/30/2022 - Buick455 wrote: 94 Points
This was very nice. Slow ox for 3 hours. Half bottle in the fridge for the night. Dark red core with a slight dark orange'ish edge. Dark mature red/black fruit. Spice. Earth. Tannins still present. Very good balance. Long finish.
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10/15/2021 - wlayne Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is absolutely in the zone but it needs at least a 2 hour decant
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7/10/2021 - Vinophiliac559 wrote: 94 Points
Decanted as per prior notes around 1-1.5 hrs, nose was nice if a bit reticent, palate had good balance between fruit, acid, and tannin, definitely a lot of structure here. While this was maturing it was quite youthful and I imagine will improve further with more time. Very good now with a bit of upside to come I believe. 93-94+
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8/18/2019 - rraaffaa Likes this wine: 96 Points
This is in the perfect drinking window right now, round tannins, beautiful aromas, full body and long finish. 30-60 mins decant and it was ready
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5/21/2018 - Milliontown wrote: 96 Points
I insisted on this being decanted and was glad for it. Sat in a carafe for maybe an hour and a half before anyone touched it. Once in the glass, this still looked a little closed and anonymous at first before it slowly blossomed and filled out. Dark in colour, with little transparency. Very attractive tarry, leathery aromas that pulled me right in. Intense, brooding characters of marachisno cherry, asphalt, scorched earth, violets and rosehip. Powerful texture on the palate, supported by a classically coarse, chalky tannin structure. The tannins are both prominent and not prominent depending on how closely you look for them. The power and weight of the fruit was just so distracting and the aromas so enthralling. Still a baby in it's early stages. But nonetheless enjoyable. Once in a lifetime wine.
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12/8/2017 - retired_and_roving Likes this wine:
Following on the heels of the '01 Gaja Barbaresco, this was definitely was more to my preference. Good balance between the mature dark fruit, acid and tannin here, a nice mouthfeel and medium finish.
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7/29/2017 - CamWheeler wrote: 92 Points
Truffles with the SLDS (CFs): Raspberry, charcoal, spice, cherry and pretty floral notes. Red fruit comes through strongly on the palate, there is plenty of acidity and really good depth to it. Stands up very well in a flight of heavyweights.
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3/10/2017 - jeff nowak wrote: flawed
Taken into a restaurant. Freaking corked!
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9/24/2016 - skurtz Likes this wine: 93 Points
Decanted for 2h. A soft perfumy Nebbiolo in its prime, tons of cranberries and raspberries on the palate. Smooth, understated, and consistent with my previous notes. Balanced with enough acid so that it pairing extremely well with sushi. I wouldn't have dared with a masculine Barolo, but the Conteisa has enough sophistication and balance that it did not compete with the sushi. Awesome palate cleanser between sushi bites instead of pickled ginger!
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9/19/2016 - robferguson1 Likes this wine: 93 Points
I am not experienced in Italian wines but I enjoyed this a lot , well developed but plenty of life ahead ,lovely fruit , layered but not too deep
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3/25/2016 - wine4lux Likes this wine: 94 Points
Don't have many points of comparison to other aged Barolo, but this was immensely enjoyable- decanted for about 2 hours before serving- cherry pie notes with an incredibly long finish.
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2/10/2016 - skurtz Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for 1h at a grant writing meeting with Garth. Soft red fruit and herbal notes on the nose. This is a soft intellectual wine. Beautiful expression of Nebbiolo.
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11/26/2015 - skurtz Likes this wine: 92 Points
Decanted for 2h at Thanksgiving. A light to medium bodied Nebbiolo. Soft spices and cinnamon on the nose. Bright tart cherries on the palate with acid attack and faint tannins. Well integrated, feminine, but not super complex. The wine paired well with turkey dinner, and would be excellent with seafood, but lacks the power and intensity to stand up to a solid beef dish or steak.
I can't imagine that this will get any better with further aging.
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8/10/2015 - Javachip wrote: 93 Points
Decanted 60 minutes. Clear medium garnet-ruby red. Pure, fresh bouquet of red cherries, stony soil, leather, hints of creosote and roses. Gripping tannins, nice bite. Seems tight and closed, likely to improve. Already excellent. My #2 tonight.
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4/19/2015 - portman63 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Deep garnet-purple color. Showing earth, coffee, and black cherry. Very silky tannins and some vanilla, but the new oak style is integrated and subtle. This is a really polished wine and showing great now although I think it might actually improve some more. Really a great vintage for all the Gaja I have tasted.
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3/22/2015 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 94 Points
An evening of Italian wines with friends (Cleveland): I probably liked this more than the group but it needs time or air. It was pop and pour and that didn't help it. The nose is tight at first but has cherries and dark cherries, tar and oak. Much better on the palate. This is a huge wine with dark cherries, cherries, slightly jammy cherries, with a great balancing of acidity and earthiness. It has a hug mouthfeel, but still a great backbone of acidity to work with the food. I would hold these for a while.
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8/25/2013 - Charogers wrote: 96 Points
The balance was perfect. A real gentleman. 2 hr decant but to be honest I don't think it moved much in that time. Still a baby but nothing wrong with popping now.
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8/23/2012 - matherjo wrote:
An absolute dream!
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5/28/2012 - wahoff wrote: 92 Points
Big, bold and juicy. Unfortunately suffered from being served at hot terrace - could not fully appreciate.
Corsé, fruité. A souffert de son service en plein soleil, on n'a pas pu pleinement l'apprécier.
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4/30/2012 - noppakit s. wrote: 95 Points
IMO, I like Gaja since the '90 and this wine is always Rock 'n' Roll to me.
Very good nose of Latour, Margaux and Haut-Brion intermixed. After 2.30 hours, it becomes 2nd Growth so amazing.
Delicious and very good aftertaste.
Don't miss it.
Drink now - 2028
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8/17/2011 - KeithSurg wrote: 93 Points
Decanted and drank over 2 hrs, but did not really change from initial impression. Very complex nose of fresh and dried fruit, flowers and mixed herbs. Silky mouthfeel with flavors of cherry, raisin, mushroom and earth. Medium-bodied, smooth finish. Nicely integrated and balanced. Did not stand up to the steak as well as I would have hoped - better on it's own.
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12/31/2009 - brigcampbell wrote: 93 Points
New Years 2010 (Graney's house in Dana Point, CA): Ligth color like a pinot noir in the decanter (1 hour). Very silky tannis and velvet mouth feel. Licorice in the mid-palate. A very sophisticated wine, my first Gaja and I was impressed.
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11/15/2009 - johnl wrote: 92 Points
Soft nose of cranberry and strawberry among other red fruits. Mouth of bright red cherry and cranberries. Nicely balanced acidity with a soft finish. A good wine.
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7/31/2009 - jeff nowak wrote: 90 Points
opened, but left in the bottle for just over an hour before drinking, and sampled over an additional 3 hours. beautiful nose, and then...major dropoff on the palate. modern style, which doesn't bother me, but this wine lacks guts, and hardly lives up to my expectations within the context of both the producer and the vintage.
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10/18/2008 - Dave Canada wrote: 96 Points
Nose of baking spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, tar, violets, and caramel apple.
The palate has medium+ tannin and acid and shows plums, spice, nutmeg and sour cherries and is so subtly fabulous!
The finish is long and elegant with layers of sensuality! Awesome wine! 96points
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4/19/2008 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 93 Points
Académie des Cinquante Piemonte tasting (Restaurant Woods, Leiden, Netherlands): The most expressive of the three Barolos today, good extract, finely grained tannins, excellent wood, low toast, international style, clearly a notch above the rest.
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2/2/2008 - the godfather wrote:
no rating, tannins are making this wine unbearable and the nose it not giving up much
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1/30/2008 - Siggy wrote:
Tasting Group Dinner - Piedmont (Our House): The nose is very ripe, and shows an off-putting hint of VA/paint thinner. Spice, dark fruit, and loads of new oak. Really young and tight. Seems promising, but tough to evaluate.
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1/30/2008 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 94 Points
Piedmont at Siggy's: It's really unfair to flight this against the '96 and '97 Gajas. Seemed like a barrel sample showing primary red fruit with a healthy dose of oak and not much in the way of secondary aromas. On the palate this rewards with a youthful dose of concentrated red fruit complimented by earth and tobacco flavors. Pure and sweet with a nice long finish and excellent balance. I'd say hands off for at least five more years. Rated 94 based on the raw materials and my optimism for consumption in the future.
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5/3/2006 - cousteau wrote: 93 Points
Angelo Gaja at ABS-SP (ABS-SP): Winner of the tasting. 92% nebbiolo and 8% barbera from the Conteisa vineyard in La Morra, Cuneo province. Darker than the others and much more accessible too. Amazing nose, complex, floral,licorice,spices and much more notes. Refined texture, round with great acidity and very fine tannins. Seductive, elegant and surely unique. Lingers a great deal. This wine is a masterpiece.
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4/22/2006 - rbaskin wrote:
very good wine but closed
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10/28/2005 - jwgauthier wrote: 94 Points
This one had the most floral nose of the evening. Again, very approachable now, it is smooth and rich in the mouth with a great finish. The balance and intensity are top-notch.
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5/14/2005 - Wusman wrote: 96 Points
Garagiste 2001 Gaja Tasting (Garagiste Warehouse, Seattle, WA): Wow. This was by far the best wine of the flight. Deeper ruby. Very expressive nose with, cherries, plum, spice. I did not get the licorice noted by many others. Balance in the finish with persistence of silky tannins. Showing surprisingly well now. My WOTN.
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5/14/2005 - lorenzo wrote: 95 Points
Gaja tasting at Garagiste: Compared to those that preceeded it, this was open and approachable. Great concentration and depth. Licorice, plums and spices in great package. Buy.
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