Gaja Sori San Lorenzo 2020

The aromas are like a bouquet of pink roses. So perfumed. Citrus. It also has subtle and pure aromas of strawberries, cherries and stone. Full-bodied but agile and floating on the palate with firm and chewy tannins at the end that remain balanced and fresh.

Elements of eucalyptus and juniper grace the cherry and raspberry fruit in this intense, complex red. Mineral and spice accents chime in as this builds to a long aftertaste. The texture is supple and there's plenty of energy on the resonant finish, where a chalky feel adds to the overall appeal.

The 2017 growing season saw a couple of violent hail events in the Barbaresco appellation, and this celebrated vineyard suffered some damage during a storm that hit on July 19th. Yields were reduced, but the wine holds its own thanks to the careful fruit selection process put in place by the Gaja family. Their 2017 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo is a shade richer in terms of flavor concentration, as is always the case with fruit from this slightly warmer growing site. However, like the other two single-vineyard Barbaresco expressions, this wine reveals a thin, sharp and nervous personality that is driven in large part by tannic firmness and acidity. Sorì San Lorenzo adds lots of dark mineral definition to cassis, wild cherry, rose and Provence herbs. Rating: 95+

In 2004, the Gaja family began an intensive program to improve their vineyards, implementing organic composting, taking steps to increase biodiversity, and modifying the pruning system with help from the respected firm Simonit and Sirch. Work in the cellar has also evolved; while the Barbarescos still age in oak barrels, fewer are new, and barriques have been supplemented by larger tonneaux. The family is also giving the wines more time on the lees, to preserve freshness. The investment paid off in 2016, a vintage that has been characterized as near-perfect, with timely rainfall, warm summer days and cooler temperatures near harvest. According to Gaia Gaja, the grapes ripened so evenly and harmoniously that production was up by about 15 percent. Gaja’s 2016 Sorì San Lorenzo sits atop the pinnacle, combining power and concentration with sheer excitement. Its deep cherry tones take time to unfurl, gradually gaining notes of licorice, menthol, woodsy mushroom and dark spice as the wine builds toward an electric crescendo. Firm, polished tannins inject a coolness that further energizes the wine and will surely make this the longest-lived of Gaja’s glorious 2016 Barbarescos. (4/2020)

Another wine with a Burgundian silkiness (tannins this good can be hard to find in young Nebbiolo), the 2016 Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo offers a more exotic bouquet of spiced red plums, licorice, dried herbs, rose petals, and flowery incense. This is a ripe, incredibly sexy, opulent Barbaresco that stays pure, ultra-refined, and elegant on the palate, with both tannins and acidity perfectly integrated. (11/2019)

Rose petal, camphor, eucalyptus and dark-skinned-berry aromas shape the nose on this captivating wine. Vibrant and intense, the palate evokes spiced cranberry, red cherry, licorice, espresso and a hint of orange zest alongside taut, fine-grained tannins. It's still youthfully austere but already balanced, with firm acidity. *Cellar Selection* (KO) (9/2020)

The 2016 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo is an eternal wine that will need 10-15 years in bottle to truly come around. Sorì San Lorenzo is often a big, virile wine. There is plenty of heft to the 2016, but at the same time, I also find an element of refinement and nuance that Sorì San Lorenzo has rarely, if ever, shown. Black cherry, cloves, menthol, licorice, gravel and incense are some of the many aromas and flavor that meld together in this dramatic and dramatically beautiful Barbaresco from the Gaja family. The Sorì San Lorenzo just explodes on the finish, with an array of aromas, flavors and textures that will leave readers weak at the knees. The 2016 is an outrageously beautiful, vivid wine of real gravitas and power. (AG) 98+ (11/2019)

The Sorí San Lorenzo vineyard is situated close to the Tanaro River, which undoubtedly helps moderate the temperature and initiates an earlier flowering period. Its sandy limestone soil provides perfect drainage and produces good tannin structure. This wine has depth, concentration and sweet primary fruit, with a touch of violet, meat, sweet cherry and wild raspberry. Lovely, polished tannins with some grip. It has benefitted from a slightly longer maceration, as well as eight months in barriques – seamlessly suffused into the wine – before spending the rest of the ageing period in large oak barrels. Drinking Window 2018 - 2037