2016 G.D. Vajra Barolo Ravera

G.D. Vajra was established in the 1960s on land that had been in the Vajra family for several generations. Aldo Vajra was a young man in the 1960s who decided to leave Turin, where he had grown up, and build a life for himself as a farmer. For the next several decades Aldo and his wife Milena ran the estate, inherited from a grandfather, and made wines that were quickly leaders in their categories. Today G.D. Vajra has grown to 125 acres and produces nearly 300,000 bottles annually. Son Giuseppe Vajra now works as winemaker. The estate produces Barolo, Barbera, Dolcetto d’Alba, Langhe Nebbiolo, Langhe Rosso, Freisa, a sparkling wine and several other wine styles. Wine writers have praised the wines and the winery. Robert M. Parker Jr. has noted that “It is fairly common for a producer to make one great wine, and it is also common to find a quality gap between an estate’s top wine(s) and the more modest ones. Not here. Every wine I tasted was impeccably made and showed this producer’s elegant, graceful style at its finest.” Gambero Rosso has frequently given its highest award of 3 glasses to Vajra Barolos, and the journal has noted that “Vajra Nebbiolos are renowned for their elegance….”

Barolo is one of Italy’s greatest wine appellations. In fact many cognoscenti of Italian wines consider Barolo to be the apex of Italian winemaking. Barolo is sometimes referred to as “the king of wines, and the wine of kings” partly because until the mid-19th century Piedmont was owned by the noble House of Savoy, the historic rulers of northwestern Italy. And the Savoys had a taste for Nebbiolo. Nestled into the rolling hills of Langhe, the Barolo DOCG includes 11 communes, one of which is the town of Barolo. There are 4,200 vineyard acres in the appellation and since the late 19th century growers have tried to identify their best vineyards. By marketing some vineyards as better quality than others, Barolo producers have followed the Burgundian custom of making single vineyard, or “cru” vineyard bottlings. As in neighboring Barbaresco, the Barolo DOCG requires that wines be 100% Nebbiolo, a grape thought of as the Pinot Noir of Italy. Records show that Nebbiolo was grown in the Piedmont as early as the 14th century, and despite being somewhat finicky – it is late to ripen and easily damaged by adverse weather --- Nebbiolo makes highly aromatic and powerful red wines. Until the mid-19th century Nebbiolos of Piedmont were vinified as sweet wines, though that ended in the late 19th century when a French oenologist was invited to Piedmont to show producers how to make dry reds. Barolo was made a DOC in 1966 and upgraded to DOCG status in 1980. Barolos must be aged at least three years, at least two of those years in wood. Barolos are tannic and robust and generally need at least five years to soften into complex, earthy wines.

This red grape is most often associated with Piedmont, where it becomes DOCG Barolo and Barbaresco, among others. Its name comes from Italian for “fog,” which descends over the region at harvest. The fruit also gains a foggy white veil when mature.