1961 Gaja Barbaresco

An eye-opening wine, the 1961 Barbaresco (Infernot) is one of the very best wines I have tasted from Gaja. The 1961 is impressive on many counts, but I am simply blown away by the sheer richness and depth of the fruit. According to Angelo Gaja, this bottling (see the picture in this article) was the last lot of the 1961 to be bottled and probably spent 8-9 years in cask. Although hard to imagine today, demand for Barolo and Barbaresco was so sporadic back then that wines were bottled only as they were sold, and sales were nothing like they are today. Gaja goes on to add that 1961 was an exceptionally hot year and that the harvest was completely done by the end of September, which was unheard of at the time. The fermenting vats got so hot that ice was added to try to bring temperatures down. Sugars were extremely high, and the wines had a hard time finishing fermentation. A little known fact is that Gaja had to take some wines off the market because the residual sugar caused a refermentation in bottle. But this lot had all the time in the world for the sugars to fully ferment, plus a lengthy stay in barrel to come together. The wine can only be described as magnificent. As an aside, the maroon service cloth wrapped around the bottle was sown by hand by Angelo Gaja's mother. What a pleasure it is to drink this exceptional, moving Barbaresco from the Gaja family.

This is so different – fresher berry fruit, perfumed tea but also a little bloody (iron) note. Delicate and lively and so so fine. Scented to a very long elegant finish. Charming yet still focused and fresh. (Most of the production was sold to a local restaurant so this wine is very hard to find, apparently.) (JH)