critic reviews
The 2022 Barbaresco is a pure and total seduction. Plush contours and lifted aromatics make a strong first impression. Cedar, tobacco, new leather, licorice meld into a core of red Nebbiolo fruit. A wine of density and texture, the 2022 is outrageously beautiful. High class.
During my visit to the Gaja winery, I had the opportunity to preview a few upcoming wines. One of these is the 2022 Barbaresco. This hot vintage required extra work in the vineyard to maintain leaves for shade. The 2022 vintage also saw a tiny 10% whole-cluster fruit, which continues an experimentation started in 2021 (however not realized in the 2023 vintage, which was more challenging in terms of fruit selection). Work with whole cluster adds impressions of freshness, says Giovanni Gaja, and reduced some of the impact of the alcohol. Nonetheless, this vintage was down 10% to 15% in terms of yields, with smaller, hard berries. This is an amply concentrated wine with lovely dimension, richness and tannins that lean on the sweet side. In addition to this wine, I also previewed the Gaja 2022 Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo. That wine was still closed during my visit, so I have not included a note for now.