Gaja Conteisa 2014
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Garnet red in color, this wine offers an expressive floral nose with notes of red berries, plums, licorice and spices. It reflects the essence of the Cerequio terroir: sumptuous texture and a very refined character with perfectly integrated tannins. On the palate, the pure essence of Cerequio leads to ripe and juicy fruit notes such as red cherry and red currant. Silky tannins and the bright acidity bring a harmonious and remarkable balance to this wine.
Conteisa is especially suited for braised meat courses with sauces or concentrated red wines reductions. Additionaly, this wine goes extremely well with fat cheeses with medium intensity (like a good Taleggio, a mature Toma, Robbiola, Raschera, Sora or even French cheeses like St. Nécatire, Reblochon etc). If you use excellent domestic cheeses, try to find similar.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The nose opens with a startling play between white truffles, bark and tea leaves and then crushed violets, lavender, blueberry peel, lemon rind and sour cherries. Full body, ultra-fine tannins, acidity as sharp as a razor and a long, ethereally mineral finish. The length but sheer clarity and accuracy in the delivery is remarkable. Perhaps hard to believe that this better than the 2013, but it is. Drink in 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Barolo Conteisa is an impressive wine that defies the odds of the vintage. Although the Cerequio vineyard did not suffer hail in 2014 (it did in 2016), grape production was reduced by half anyway. The remaining grapes delivered their best with intense flavors and crisp contours. Gaia Gaja tells me that the clusters harvested were perfect in appearance. This is a perfumed wine that offers defined aromas of wild cherry that rise to the top with intensity. The wine's tonality is dark and thick, and the tannins are full and structured.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of underbrush, dark berry, new leather and a whiff of camphor waft out of the glass. The tense chiseled palate evokes Marasca cherry, raspberry, star anise and a hint of cinnamon alongside polished fine-grained tannins and vibrant acidity. Drink 2022–2032.
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Wine Spectator
Though young and still a bit rough around the edges, this is harmonious, featuring cherry, berry, herb and tar aromas and flavors. The finish is long and vibrant, with earth and mineral elements. Best from 2021 through 2035.
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Perched atop a steep hill in the Langhe sits the small village of Barbaresco, home of the GAJA winery. The story of the GAJA Winery can be traced to a singular, founding purpose: to produce original wines with a sense of place which reflect the tradition and culture of those who made it. This philosophy has inspired five generations of impeccable winemaking. It started over 150 years ago when Giovanni Gaja opened a small restaurant in Barbaresco, making wine to complement the food he served. In 1859, he founded the Gaja Winery, producing some of the first wine from Piedmont to be bottled and sold outside the region. Since that time, the winery has been shaped by each generation’s hand, notably that of Clotilde Rey, Angelo Gaja’s grandmother. Her passion for uncompromising quality influenced and informed Angelo Gaja. Through Angelo, these values have become the cornerstone of the GAJA philosophy and are engrained in every aspect of wine production
In 1961, Angelo Gaja began his mission of bringing this great winery to an even higher level. He was the first to use barriques, 225-liter French oak barrels. Under his direction, GAJA pioneered the production of single-vineyard designated wines and was the first to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varietals in Piedmont. He was also instrumental in elevating the native Nebbiolo grape to world-class esteem.
Angelo Gaja is joined by the fifth generation of the GAJA family – his daughters Gaia and Rossana and his son Giovanni. Together they continue to advance the winery’s legacy. To fully realize their vision, all GAJA wines are produced exclusively from grapes grown in estate-owned vineyards, including 250 acres in Piedmont’s Barbaresco and Barolo districts as well as estates in Pieve Santa Restituta (Montalcino) and Ca’Marcanda (Bolgheri). 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.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.