Barolo Sperss, Gaja 2019

A wine of stature and breeding, the 2019 Barolo Sperss is pure Serralunga power. Dark toned fruit, lavender, licorice, gravel and crushed rocks soar from the glass. There is plenty of the brooding intensity and tannic heft that are such signatures, but the 2019 is also wonderfully refined.

This wine offers a delicate embroidery of earth, crushed rose, rusty nail and dark currant. The Gaja 2019 Barolo Sperss also has hints of smoke or camphor ash, and the entire wine is very polished and seamless with underripe dark fruit or sottobosco (undergrowth) that carries through to the end. This is one of the most powerful of Gaja's latest releases, yet the wine is also profoundly elegant.

The 2019 Barolo Sperss is rich with dark mineral earth, black cherry, and Earl Grey tea. Long and mouthwatering, it has a powerful structure while retaining finesse. It is fantastically balanced, with gripping tannins, fresh acidity, and notes of forested earth and ripe red berries. A wine for the long haul, this is another great and noble wine to drink over the coming three decades.

Serralunga d’Alba. Vineyard blend of Marenca and Rivette.Lustrous mid ruby. Compact and pretty much closed on the nose, with saline, minerally notes. With aeration, a deep layer of spice and liquorice wood reveals itself. Complex but still pretty much locked. Elegant palate weight combined with bags of fine, gravelly tannins and crunchy, youthful red-berry fruit. Long and precise and cool. Finesse and power.