Winemaker Notes
This plot, originally planted in 1971 always manages to render the most elegant and aromatic undertones of Ginestra to its Barolo D.O.C.G. The proof of the versatility of this great geographical position.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Riper and sunnier, the 2017 Barolo Ginestra Pajana offers baked aromas of red plum, balsamic, and leather. Full on the palate and broad with ripe tannins, it feels much more expansive in its fruit and style. It is still fresh but displays the warmth of the vintage.
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James Suckling
Fresh and ripe strawberries with cedar and dried flowers. Aromatic. Medium-bodied with tight, fine tannins and a long, linear finish. Fresh and fine. Drink in 2024 and onwards.
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Decanter
Pajana lies at medium altitude in the Ginestra MGA on loamy soil with around 23% each of sand and clay, plus a lot of active chalk. Reductive and precise on the nose with notes of pomegranate and rosebud, light tea leaf also emerges after some time. The attack is relaxing, with supple red cherry fruit sustained by polished tannins and brilliant acidity. The rhubarb finish is not without an austere bite, and there's also some tar and liquorice on the aftertaste.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Barolo Pajana shows harmony and a long, polished texture that builds pretty momentum on the palate and to the finish. The wine is seamless in a manner that Nebbiolo cannot achieve until it has had much more time to evolve and age in the bottle. However, this hot-vintage expression appears wiser than its years, showing a more accessible style that won't require years of cellaring.
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Wine Spectator
Effusive aromas of rose, strawberry, cherry and mint are enticing in this version, as are the cherry, iron, tobacco and eucalyptus flavors. Spry and lively, this is balanced and lingers with refined tannins. Best from 2024 through 2038.
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.