When you mention Gaja in a room full of Italian wine lovers, a dramatic hush falls over the crowd. Angelo Gaja, the man, the myth, the legend, is one of the most influential world-class Italian wine producers. Fourth-generation winemaker, he joined the family business in 1961, changing the traditional Barbaresco and Barolo industry. While maintaining his family's high production standards, he inaugurated a new stylistic direction. He introduced barrique aging, hybrid French bottle formats, longer corks, clonal and massal selection in the vineyard. In the process, he single-handedly established Barbaresco as one of the great appellations of the world. Indeed, Angelo has often been referred to as the "King of Barbaresco." Along the way, he made wines that went against the norm of the Piedmont traditionalist, such as the first labeled single vineyard wines, producing the first Piemonte Chardonnay and a Cabernet-based red much to the indignation of his father. Gaja has consistently flown the flag for Italian wine, pioneering what were once seemingly-radical viticulture ideas and blending traditional processes with a modern approach to create an impressive, highly sought-after artisanal portfolio. Gaja is by far the wine producer with the most significant international reputation, has by far the most awards from Gambero Rosso, and could thus call itself one of the best producers in Italy.

While the family was firmly rooted in Piedmont, over the years, it has expanded into Tuscany. First, Angelo purchased vineyards in Montalcino, Pieve Santa Restituta, in 1994. Always an admirer of Bordeaux wines, he then looked to Bolgheri, home of Sassicaia and Ornelaia, an area famous for its Bordeaux varietal wines. He found a property located in Castagnet Carducci in Bolgheri in 1996. Negotiations with the owner's family to buy the property were not easy. It took so long (18 trips in all) to complete discussions for the historic 250-acre Bolgheri estate that the Gaja family began to call it "ca' marcanda," the house of endless negotiations, from the Piedmontese dialect ca' (meaning casa or house) and marcandè (meaning mercanteggiare or to haggle). Finally, they had agreed to lease the property for 25 years when the sister reminded her brothers that most of them would no longer be alive by then. They finally decided to sell the virgin property to Angelo Gaja, who wanted to work with Bordeaux varieties because he said it was like "learning of color after only working in Black & White."

The focus at Ca' Marcanda is on international grape varieties, and the estate's 150 acres were planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah vines in 1997. It took another six years for the state-of-the-art winery to be completed in 2002. The Ca' Marcanda winery, wholly dreamed up by Angelo, was built from scratch. In conjunction with the architect Giovanni Bo, Angelo has masterminded one of the finest wineries to be built in recent times - from both an aesthetic and a practical point of view. The visible portions of the winery have been clad in the stone recovered during the excavations of the cellars, and the slopes which cover the bulk of the building have been transformed into olive groves by the transplanting of 150-year-old trees. The overall effect is of a building that is rooted in the landscape and yet is dramatically contemporary. The layout and design allow for the precision necessary to craft exceptional wines with minimal intervention.

The design of the Ca'Marcanda label is a representation of the famous Bolgheri Boulevard, lined by cypress trees on the left and right intersecting the horizon. It is a had-to-be-there concept, but it really hits home after visiting Bolgerhi as I did years ago driving down that road on our way to Sassicaia and Ornelaia.

The vineyard area is characterized by two distinct soil types - red soil, terre brune ("dark earth ") which contains more loam and clay, and a whiter soil, terre bianche ("white earth "), where there is more limestone and deposits of bright white stones. These soil types, when combined with the warm daytime maritime climate and cool evenings, provide the perfect conditions for growing Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and even Syrah, planted in 1996. Today, Ca'Marcanda has rightly established a reputation as one of the leading estates in Bolgheri, so much so that Gaja's Bolgerhi project has surpassed his iconic Piedmont property in volume.

The Gaja family created the Ca'Marcanda's proprietary name Promis (pronounced proh-MEESS), to denote commitment, expectation, fulfillment, and hope—the promise of quality and the reward of diligence and excellence. The vineyards are situated on the terre brune, brown soils, a blend of 55% Merlot, 35% Syrah, and 10% Sangiovese. The climate here is typical Mediterranean maritime, characterized by hot summer days with cool nights cleaned by the local sea breezes, which blow up a natural corridor between the coast and nearby Corsica. This allows the grapes to mature evenly over a long period, which is ideal for the grapes. The grapes come from vineyards in Bolgheri and the neighboring area of Bibbona. The three varieties are fermented and macerated separately for around 15 days. After 12 months of oak aging, the wines are blended together and left to age in the bottle for some months prior to release.

The 2021 vintage started with a harsh and rainy winter that brought a good water reserve of 550 mm between October 2020 and February 2021. Spring was cold and dry with two frosts, which delayed the vegetative cycle of the vines and, fortunately, caused minor damage. The following summer saw only sporadic drizzle in June – one of the driest of the last decade. The summer remained cool, which put the vines under less water stress and allowed the berries to ripen slowly, thanks in part to fresh northwest winds in July and August. The harvest began a week later than usual. The 2021 vintage was a very dry but moderately cool year, yielding wines of great concentration, structure, color, and acidity. The wines of the 2021 vintage have a classic Bolgheri style; they are generous wines with robust, round tannins and ripe, intense fruit.

Coming from a classic Bolgheri vintage, Promis shows a bright, ruby-red color. The nose has hints of spice, such as cinnamon and star anise, along with pronounced red fruits like strawberry and black cherry. The tannins are juicy and persistent, all culminating in a salinity that is a classic hallmark of good vintages in Bolgheri.

Gaja's Ca'Marcanda Promis has just been released, and there are no reviews yet on this wine.

Vinous's Antonio Galloni about future vintages, "These new releases from the Gaja family's Ca' Macanda estate show a continued move towards a style that favors energy and vibrancy over the opulence and characterized these wines just a few years ago. I continue to believe there is quite a bit of untapped potential here." July 2022

Vinous rates the past vintages:

The 2019 Promise is a fruity, delicious wine to drink now and over the next handful of years. Inky blue fruit, lavender, spice mint, and new leather lend exuberance to the mid-weight, wonderfully inviting Maremma red from the Gaja family. 91 pts

2018 Promis 91 pts, 2016 Promis 91 pts, 2015 Promis 90 pts

Gaja Ca'Marcanda Promis 2021

To say we were excited to taste this wine is no simple exaggeration judging by the crowd we gathered in the kitchen. The pour is inky red, and the nose was compact and unyielding. Our first impression was that the wine was very tight, and needed time to open up and un-coil the fruit we knew was there. After about half an hour, we were rewarded with leather, vanilla, chocolate expresso beans, beat root, and earthy notes. Moderate silky tannins with a long dark cherry finish. As time passed, complexities kept building in this wine as it took off. You know it is a good wine when there is not a lot of talk from the wine geeks, just nodding their heads with stupid grins on their faces. The next day there was some left in the bottle; not sure how that happened, and we tried it again. The wine fattened up even more with no signs of oxidation. At this price, it is a fantastic Italian Bordeaux-style wine from Bolgheri. At this price, it is an unheard-of price for a wine made by Gaja. At this price, you can't afford not to buy it. When was the last time you could afford some Gaja wines?

Regular Price: $59.99

*Sale price is on 3 or more bottles

Wine is packed in a 6-bottle case

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