G.D. Vajra Barolo Coste di Rose 2017
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Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Coste di Rose is a very seductive wine right out of the gate. Cherries and roses burst on the nose, with hints of amarena, red hard candy, wild berries, wet stone, mint and thyme. The palate is radiant and expressive, with all of the signature elements of Coste di Rose in nice evi-dence: the ethereal character, the saline, up-front tannic structure, and further whiffles of roses and cherries in the finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Wild berry, menthol and tilled earth aromas mingle with whiffs of dark spice. Linear and savory, the lithe palate is already immediate, featuring juicy raspberry, red cherry, crushed mint and star anise accompanied by taut, polished tannins. Tangy acidity keeps it fresh and bright.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Barolo Coste di Rose has bright aromatics of candied raspberry, apricot, anise, and dusty earth. The palate is medium-bodied, with fine tannins and notes of dried wild strawberry, fresh roses, and mineral-rich earth. This wine is open and inviting, while maintaining freshness and drive.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
With fruit from higher-elevation vineyards in the village of Barolo, the 2017 Barolo Coste di Rose is quite elegantly downplayed and fragile. The wine reveals wild berry, cassis and lots of blue flower or lilac. A pretty mineral note recalls crushed limestone and is present through the long and polished mouthfeel. This wine overperforms, considering the challenges of this vintage that saw extreme weather, from spring frost to scorching summer temperatures. These vineyard sites performed better than most. Some 4,800 bottles were released.
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Wine & Spirits
This wine is bright and buoyant, its midweight frame and finely honed tannins making it more imme-diately accessible than many 2017 Barolos. Scents of fresh rose petal leap from the glass, followed on the palate by tangy cherry and pomegranate flavors enlivened by notes of licorice. The wine keeps gaining verve with exposure to air, and was still delivering plea- sure three days after the bottle was opened.
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James Suckling
Sweet-strawberry, flower, iodine and stone aromas follow through to a full body with firm, polished tannins that show finesse and form. Give it a year or two to soften and come together.
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Wine Spectator
Aromatic, this evokes hay, cherry, currant and loam aromas and flavors. Wild herbs and tobacco accents seep in on the finish. On the dry side, but nothing food won't mitigate. Best from 2024.
Other Vintages
2019-
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The Vajra family has farmed Bricco delle Viole, the highest cru in Comune di Barolo, since the 1880s. At the young age of fifteen, Aldo Vajra embraced the dream to revive his family legacy. Displaying a vision and commitment belying his young age he took over the estate in 1968, turning a new page.
Aldo soon acquired the first organic certification of the region (1971), created private biotype selections (selezioni massali) of Nebbiolo and Dolcetto, pioneered the renaissance of Freisa, a noble yet forgotten local grape (1980) and the cultivation of Rhine Riesling in Piemonte (1985).
Today, the Vajra family continues the vineyard research focusing on the influence of soil and climate change. The winery is trail-blazing the rediscovery of Chiaretto di Nebbiolo and the wines of the 17th century – long before Barolo was created - through two limited-production wines: “N.S. della Neve” (a champagne-method rosé nature) and “Claré JC”, a partial whole-cluster fermentation of pure Nebbiolo.
High elevation vineyards are a unique factor to the Vajra wines, for their ability to express finesse and remarkable complexity over power.
Attention to details and humility towards the nature, uncompromised efforts and humanity: so are Aldo and Milena, now joined by their energetic children Giuseppe, Francesca and Isidoro, and by an amazing team of young professionals, in their quest for an authentic expression of their land into the wines. G.D. Vajra is an independent winery, entirely family-owned.
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.