Gaja - Sori San Lorenzo Barbaresco 2017 (750ml)
James Suckling: 99 Points
The aromas of fresh rose petals are amazing with strawberries and citrus underneath. Full-bodied and layered with a complete, very linear and long finish. It turns tight and very serious at the end. Please give this at least five years to show it’s potential.
Wine Spectator: 96 Points
This tightly wound red is dense with black cherry, black currant, plum, tar and iron flavors as well as tannins. Shows a lot of power and persistence, with all the components in the right proportion, ending with a long, resonant aftertaste. Needs time.
Vinous: 96 Points
A rich, heady wine, the 2017 Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo packs a serious punch. Macerated dark cherry, plum, espresso, licorice, dried herbs and spice all build in a potent, rich Barbaresco endowed with tremendous depth and brooding power.
Wine Advocate: 95 Points
The 2017 growing season saw a couple of violent hail events in the Barbaresco appellation, and this celebrated vineyard suffered some damage during a storm that hit on July 19th. Yields were reduced, but the wine holds its own thanks to the careful fruit selection process put in place by the Gaja family. Their 2017 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo is a shade richer in terms of flavor concentration, as is always the case with fruit from this slightly warmer growing site. However, like the other two single-vineyard Barbaresco expressions, this wine reveals a thin, sharp and nervous personality that is driven in large part by tannic firmness and acidity. Sorì San Lorenzo adds lots of dark mineral definition to cassis, wild cherry, rose and Provence herbs. Like the other wines, it needs extra cellar aging time.
