Winemaker Notes
Expressive nose, with hints of lavender, plum, cherry and blackberry; earthy and spicy notes blend with scents of undergrowth and the freshness of mint. In the mouth it is full and voluminous, with hints of sweet licorice, violet and a fruity, full finish. The acidity is lively, the tannins round and fine.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A spiced profile emerges from the 2021 Barbaresco Sori Tildin, which has a bright red color and offers notes of ripe black cherries, graphite, wet stones, and darker minerals. There’s more power and backbone in this wine, as well as more depth and structure. It’s remarkably focused, with ripe tannins, fantastic purity and balance, and ripe mineral undercurrents. These 2021s are some of the best wines I’ve ever tasted from Gaja, and this one has great potential for the long haul.
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James Suckling
Subtle and complex aromas of blackberries, pine needles, bark, light spices and violets. It’s really perfumed and attractive. Full-bodied and chewy, but the tannins are very, very fine. It goes on for minutes. This a brooding, muscular wine but it is very refined. One for the cellar. Best after 2028.
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Vinous
The 2021 Barbaresco Sorì Tildin is a real head-turner. What a wine. As is the case in its best years, Sorì Tildin is distinguished by its nuanced personality and detail. Everything speaks to finesse and fineness. Crushed rocks, rose petals, vibrant red fruit, chalk, mint and white pepper lend notable energy and brightness throughout.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Thanks to its elegant minerality, this wine is often the easiest to recognize among the trio of single-vineyard Barbarescos made by the Gaja family. The 2021 Barbaresco Sorì Tildìn offers a pretty combination of red and purple berry fruits followed by dusty tones of crushed graphite and pencil shaving. Those elements reinforce the lovely freshness and vertical brightness of Nebbiolo. The Sorì Tildìn tannins are linear, fine and chalky in texture.
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Wine Enthusiast
This Nebbiolo delivers a deeply savory experience with a subtle, ethereal aroma reminiscent of incense in a quiet church. Aromas of fresh raspberry, rose and crushed stone lift from the glass as the wine opens. The wine showcases firm, high-toned tannins and a concentrated cherry character—imagine split cherries soaking in their juices and warming slowly. Savory herbs complement the dense fruit, with the tannins providing a finely structured, mouthwatering finish. Drink from 2026.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
Rich and almost creamy in texture, this detailed red evokes cherry, strawberry, rose, iron, tobacco and sweet spice aromas and flavors. Well-defined by lively acidity, with dense tannins lending support, this is balanced and harmonious, yet should benefit from two to three year of aging. Shows superb finesse and length. Best from 2027 through 2050.
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.
A wine that most perfectly conveys the spirit and essence of its place, Barbaresco is true reflection of terroir. Its star grape, like that in the neighboring Barolo region, is Nebbiolo. Four townships within the Barbaresco zone can produce Barbaresco: the actual village of Barbaresco, as well as Neive, Treiso and San Rocco Seno d'Elvio.
Broadly speaking there are more similarities in the soils of Barbaresco and Barolo than there are differences. Barbaresco’s soils are approximately of the same two major soil types as Barolo: blue-grey marl of the Tortonion epoch, producing more fragile and aromatic characteristics, and Helvetian white yellow marl, which produces wines with more structure and tannins.
Nebbiolo ripens earlier in Barbaresco than in Barolo, primarily due to the vineyards’ proximity to the Tanaro River and lower elevations. While the wines here are still powerful, Barbaresco expresses a more feminine side of Nebbiolo, often with softer tannins, delicate fruit and an elegant perfume. Typical in a well-made Barbaresco are expressions of rose petal, cherry, strawberry, violets, smoke and spice. These wines need a few years before they reach their peak, the best of which need over a decade or longer. Bottle aging adds more savory characteristics, such as earth, iron and dried fruit.