2021 Nebbiolo Langhe "Sori San Lorenzo"

A rather exotic and wild Sori San Lorenzo. Even flamboyant. Dried flowers and spices with bark, mushroom and dried dark cherry. Perfumed and primary with earth. Full-bodied and juicy with such fine velvety tannins that are layered and superb. So classic and soft on the palate with great length. Give this four to five years, but a classic in the making. Try after 2029. (08/2024)

Presenting a more youthful appearance, the 2021 Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo is a complete wine already, with ripe, expressive fruit as well as notes of ripe cherry liqueur and pressed flowers. While the oak is going to need time to come together, the wine simultaneously displays broad tannins, power, weightlessness, and an intense mineral drive. It evolves rapidly in the glass, developing notes of pure cinnamon, and continues to reveal more layers over time. (05/2024)

This rich, juicy version is packed with ripe cherry, raspberry, rose, graphite and menthol aromas and flavors. The lush, supple texture is offset by a dense line of chalky tannins that build on the finish. Showing superb balance and length, this teases you with its up-front fruit before tightening up, a foreshadowing of its potential. Best from 2027 through 2050. 125 cases imported.

- B.S.

Last to be tasted and the most powerful in this series of single-vineyard wines is the Gaja 2021 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo. This vintage delivers striking intensity that is focused and pure. Dark berry fruit is surrounded by spice, earth and licorice. The tannins are quite present in the San Lorenzo, especially in this vintage, and ideally this bottle should see many more years of bottle evolution. With so many decades of family history behind this site, San Lorenzo's excellence is an enduring symbol of the creativity and expertise of the Gaja legacy.

- Monica Larner (01/2025)