Hello friends,
This is the one we've all been waiting for.
One of the world's greatest producers + greatest vintage in history = the most monumental bottles to add to your cellar!
Watch them go down in history while they go UP in value :)
For the next century, and likely longer, these wines will be referenced back to whenever the "all-time greatest vintages" are discussed.
In 1994, Gaja expanded to new places and acquired its first wine estate in Tuscany, Pieve Santa Restituta in Montalcino. They have since added another Tuscan estate in the Maremma (Ca'Marcanda) as well as Idda, a joint project with Alberto Graci in Sicily. All of the Gaja wines are produced exclusively from grapes grown in estate-owned vineyards. It is from these storied vineyards, and their terroir – the combination of soil, weather and vines that grow upon them - that Gaja wines reveal their true heart and soul.
Here's some extra background detail from Vinous Media's Eric Guido:
"The Gaja family tends twenty-five hectares of vines between Tavernelle in the southwest of Montalcino and the Deserti area in the northeast. However, it’s only the vines in Tavernelle, a warm and dry part of Montalcino which is heavily influenced by the sea, that are used to create Rennina and the single-vineyard Brunello, Sugarille. All of the other fruit goes into making a Brunello which is not submitted for reviews and instead marketed to restaurants...In 2016 the Rennina was matured in a mix of 70% two-year-old large casks, with only 30% in tonneaux, while the Sugarille was matured in a mix of 60% two-year-old large casks, with only 40% in tonneaux. In the end, whether in Piedmont, Maremma, Montalcino or Mount Etna, the Gaja family always has a firm eye on the future."
Here too is what Jeb Dunnuck recently had to say:
"The Pieve Santa Restituta estate was acquired by the Gaja family in 1994 and is located in the southwest portion of Brunello di Montalcino, a region known for producing structured, concentrated wines. I was able to taste their Brunello Rennina and Brunello Sugarille, both showing beautifully yet with distinctly different styles. While the Rennina comes from a handful of vineyards and shows an upfront, expressive style, the Sugarille comes from a single site of more white, rocky, limestone soils and is a darker, more black-fruited expression of Brunello. Both wines show the ripe, sunny, sexy style of the vintage nicely.”
Sugarille comes from a single vineyard considered one of the top expressions of Brunello di Montalcino. According to archives found at Pieve Santa Restituta, the Sugarille growing site was already devoted to the cultivation of grapes for wine by the mid-16th century (1541). The name Sugarille, is derived from the Latin suber, meaning cork oak, possibly because cork trees were found there. The wine is aged 24 months in oak and another six months in concrete vats.
Rennina comes from three growing sites devoted to the cultivation of Sangiovese Grosso grapes: Santo Pietro (St. Peter), Castagno (Chestnut Tree), and Pian dei Cerri (Turkish Oak Flats). These sites offer lime-rich subsoils, southwest exposure, and ventilation arriving from the Tyrrhenian sea to the west to produce well-balanced Brunello di Montalcino, defined by its characteristic red fruit notes, minerality, and polished tannins. The grapes from the three vineyards ferment and macerate separately for around three weeks. After 24 months of aging in oak, the wines are blended and then aged for another six months in concrete vats. The designation Rennina first appears in the High Middle Ages and is derived from the late-Roman name of the estate, Fundus Rescianum, denoting a state-owned farm.
Added Bonus: due to the limitations on restaurants caused by COVID, we were able to get an exclusive allocation of this third, normale Brunello - while it is not usually reviewed, we tracked down one article from South African Master of Wine Greg Sherwood - as well as some Vivino reviews - plus as you can see from the vintage notes below, this is bound to be exceptional as well!
We have just a few six-packs, along with four magnums of each wine. Please please do get in touch with us as soon as you can to secure these true treasures.
Ciao,
—James Tran
