GAJA GAIA & REY Chardonnay Langhe 2021 75 cl.

Gaia & Rey is made exclusively from Chardonnay. The grapes come partly from a 3.6 ha. vineyard, which is named after Angelo and Lucia’s eldest daughter, Gaia, and her grandmother, Clotilde Rey. The field is located by the village of Treiso in approx. 460 meters high and was planted in 1979. In addition, grapes for this wine are also sourced from a vineyard in Serralunga. The wine was produced for the first time in 1983 and was then also Gaja’s first white wine and also Italy’s first “stored” Chardonnay wine.

Year 2021 was quite atypical for Piedmont in several ways. The winter was one of the driest and warmest in the past 50 years, and the rain showers that usually fall in winter and spring all came in summer. For the first time in many years, Gaja’s vineyards were not damaged at all by the otherwise frequent hailstorms. Apart from two periods at the end of May and at the beginning of October of extreme heat, the summer was characterized by an alternation between heat, showers and cool days. These temperature differences gave the white wine grapes a great aroma as well as a good bite and acidity. A generally sunnier period from mid-August to the end of September ensured more sugar and fullness, not least for Nebbiolo. The white wine grapes were harvested over a longer period than usual. The Chardonnay is fermented in steel tanks and then undergoes malolactic fermentation and maturation for 6 to 8 months in one and two year old barriques.

Gaia & Rey has a fantastic structure and crispness with a rare fruit richness, complexity and elegance. You probably just have to get used to the fact that an Italian white wine can have such great power and character and almost show the structure of a red wine. However, with age (preferably 5-8 years), the wine develops a fantastic finesse and charm. It is clearly a wine in a class of its own! A little oxygenation before serving is recommended. Serve it with the best seafood creations.