Personalities

Twice Gaja
"Magnum" №1(5) January-February 2006

We agreed to meet in Barbaresco at eleven in the morning.

By then I had visited Gaja vineyards and winery and nearly finished tasting an offered range of wines. And here she was — young, energetic and smilingly charming Gaia, a proof of her name that translates from Italian as ’fun-loving’. The eldest daughter of Angelo Gaja got up at half past four in the morning and drove 700 km from Chieti to be in time for our meeting. Barbaresco and far beyond knows legends about Gaia’s racing on the Italian roads. She started conversation with her latest road adventure. And then we switched to work.

- What did you do in the Central region?

- I left Piedmont a week ago. First went to Naples for 2 days, then spent a day at the Amalfi coast and another day in Puglia. In Naples there was a seminar on Gaja wines and dinner for 50 guests. In the other days I worked with our representative — we went to see clients to check that everything was going well. We have to do Christmas preparations now [end of November] and to organize the dates for events for the next year.

- Totally.

- When did it start?

- Totally started a little bit more than one year, in October 2004. Being a family business you can see a full panorama of 360 degrees. For example, last week I was going around Italy working with our representatives and meeting the clients. Before that I did a harvest in Ca’Marcanda, stayed there for almost a month and a half. I actually understood that working during harvest and in the winery is a little bit boring, even if it is the best moment of the year, the most important moment.

But for me the most challenging is working in the vineyards during the year. There is no book telling you how you have to grow your grapes — in that spot of your vineyard, variety, vintage. You always have to apply different strategy.

If we look at Ca’Marcanda, we just started there. So we are doing many experimentations. We have a vineyard of Merlot. First ten rows are done with low crop and pruning, and then the next ten rows of the same vineyard go without pruning, and so on. Of course, it’s challenging to see how the results change. When it’s harvest time, all your work has already been done, so you just have to bring your grapes inside, check the press and destemmer are working well and control temperature. The process is very monotonous, so I prefer to work in the vineyards. The second best moment comes when it’s time to blend the barrels and to decide the taste of your wine. I can’t wait till Guido Rivello, our chief winemaker, and I start doing these blends.

- So you also do final blends for wines?

- I don’t have responsibility with that, like, say, the responsibility following the foreign markets. But I take part towards this decision, making my opinion heard. Many times we are on the same wave, but, of course, Guido is the boss.

A few months ago we created Barbaresco 2003. It was very fascinating. Barbaresco is the blend of 14 different vineyards, so there are 14 different Nebbiolos. We had all samples in front of us, and we tasted all of them and started to do our blends. Thirty potential Barbaresco 2003 were created. Then we selected by smelling and tasting, and we kept out some, and arrived to fifteen, then to ten samples. In the end we had just three glasses with our favourite Barbaresco 2003. They were completely different from each other, even though they were made with the same grapes and came from the same vineyards. To me one didn’t even taste like Piedmont, I don’t know why. Another one had fantastic bouquet. The third had a softer bouquet but you could see it would age longer. At that point you have to take a decision which Barbaresco will be the wine for the market. Only Angelo has the power to do it.

Although I haven’t studied enology, I don’t think I will start it now and do three years of winemaking. First I want develop better the taste, to stay more inside the winery and to read more wine literature. This is my way of learning.

- I did one year of sommelier classes when I was in the university, but then stopped. At home we’ve always had wine for lunch or dinner. When my parents come back home from work, they always talk about wine. When we have guests- friends, winemakers or people involved with wine, the conversation always revolves around wine. When I was little, my father always asked us about aromas. I remember once he said, ’Can you feel strawberry’? And I did feel it, so every time he was asking, I said strawberry. Even if I didn’t drink, there was a glass in front. So I probably developed the nose better than the palate. But when you are with people who are involved with wine, you understand better. Even when you just drink, you learn more about wine.

- Why did you take economics in the university?

- I don’t know. Probably if I could go back to the university I would do psychology or archeology — something that doesn’t have to do with my work but with my personality. I know so many people who never studied what they are actually doing now.

- Did you work in the vineyards during your practice in California?

- I lived one year in San Francisco — 3 months worked in a wine shop and then 8 months worked for a distribution company called Southern Wine & Spirits. They are huge with distribution of 35,000 wines. In the first month I could work in every department to see how they are organized. When I was working in the warehouse, I couldn’t believe that they ship 50,000 cases of wine a day. In our winery, if everything goes well, we make 25,000 cases a year. For me it was important to understand what’s behind the wine business, how its volumes and turnover work. No one in Europe operates on such levels.

After studies and training I decided I wanted to be involved with promotion and following the markets. I also work inside the winery, and I like every aspect! The less I know about something, the more I want to practice that side.

- In Piedmont my father has done a lot already. Although things can still be improved, the winery has become well known through him. In Tuscany there are two completely new properties. I know that we have 2 little jewels. They have enormous potential, but just as the vineyards are very young, we have to learn and practice a lot.

I have serious expectations for Tuscan wineries because we didn’t arrive there by chance. Angelo knew exactly what he wanted. He had to negotiate so much to get the property in Bolgheri, that he called it Ca’Marcanda (’the house of endless negotiations’) in the end. We started to release Ca’Marcanda wines from 2000, but couldn’t really feel how the personality of the wine should be because they were giving different results. Starting from 2003, we think that really we are reaching what we were expecting from that area and the wines are showing well.

In Piedmont people have more knowledge of the terroirs than in any other region of Italy. And what I like about Toscana — you know in Piedmont for the weather that we have we make wines that are much more terroir wines. There is big knowledge of Piedmont people for terroir, more than in any other region of Italy. Not having a very strong sun you have to work very well in the vineyard. We like to say that the wines coming from Piedmont are much more terroir wines — they deeply reflect the aspect of the minerality. In Tuscany there is much more sun and light, and wines show more fruitiness. In Ca’Marcanda and Pieve Santa Restituta we can bring our knowledge and care about terroir and also have the sun aspect of the southern Italy.

- So Tuscan terroirs are less discovered than Piedmontese?

- Maybe in Montalcino they know their terroirs well, but in Bolgheri no. It’s a new area. They started producng wine there 40 years ago. So the district of Bolgheri has not been finally delimited yet. Last year we rented few hectares in Bibbona, the vineyard that is not in the official Bolgheri denomination. That’s why Magari doesn’t have Bolgheri on it. Bibbona is a fantastic land but we can say it was discovered only last year.

- There is a respect for Sassicaia because it’s a great name and it made Bolgheri important. What I like about Sassicaia is that even though the wine is a blend of Cabernet, to me it really reflects the Toscana taste. It made us realize that even with wines from international varieties we can reflect the tipicity of a soil. So no, we don’t want to compete.

- What do your brother and sister do?

- Giovanni is 12 years old, he goes to intermediate school. He finishes classes at 5 o’clock and then always stays in the winery. My parents are here until half eight — nine o’clock, so is he. Giovanni is friendly with everyone, he is working in the warehouse and in the vineyards. When he comes here, he finds friends. Probably it is a little bit annoying for the people of the winery, but he talks to everybody and goes and helps in the warehouse. When it’s harvest time he also wants to be in the vineyard. Like any little boy he loves harvest. It is something mechanical — you can use scissors, there is press moving, tractors going in the village.

This harvest there was Sunday and people were harvesting. Angelo had lunch with some clients and he wanted Giovanni to be with us. Giovanni was so upset, he wouldn’t talk to anyone because he couldn’t go out and stay in the vineyard. But it doesn’t mean anything yet. He is still little, and growing in Barbaresco you are involved in wine.

Before in elementary school in Barbaresco each class used to make own wine and grappa. It was at the science lessons. Teachers never really emphasized this thing because they find it so normal here. Now traveling around I can understand how extraordinary this was. We made our wine and grappa, put little labels on bottles and went back home with a twelve-pack of wine produced by us.

My sister Rossana finished the enological school in Alba three years ago. Now she studies psychology. She lives in Chiete and loves what she does. At the beginning my father didn’t understand her, but in the end he accepted this decision and realised that for a girl it’s not bad to switch to humanitarian subjects after 6 years of practical enology. At the enological school they studied chemistry, physics, worked in the vineyards... I don’t know whether Rossana is going to join family business. She is a great taster. Perhaps, one day she would like to work in the winery.

- She is the soul of the office and of the winery. She is responsible for the Italian market. In part she is also involved in foreign markets, so she is doing a bit of everything. Plus she takes care of staff issues. In Barbaresco we have 60 people, in Ca’Marcanda — 40, in Montalcino — 20. She is keeping the balance in the winery and in the office so that everybody can relate well. Before marriage Lucia was Angelo and his father’s secretary and remembers well that she was the only external person at Gaja winery. She went through everything and is so attached.

Lucia is also a typical Italian wife meaning that she takes care of the family and cooks every day. She works hard in the office and then goes back home, cooks lunch and dinner and looks that the family is well. Women are so strong.

- Now you travel a lot. Have you seen differences in taste in different markets?

- Some markets are more commercial like some areas of the United States. They are used to Cabernet and Merlot and look for lushness, roundness. I don’t want to be pessimist, but it seems that the taste is going in the direction of more concentrated, heavy and fruity wines. For wine novices it is easier to understand fruitiness than, say, minerality of Piedmont wines. So it’s tough, even though in the last years Barolo and Barbaresco became better known. There are wines with strong personality, and Nebbiolo is like that, but it is a wine that not everybody can love. There is a great distinction between commercial wines and wines with personality.

There is a new trend in the wine world. Big corporations that in the past were selling only cheap wines, now start to produce premium and ultra-premium wines. Not for the devotion for quality, but because they understood — in Europe the consumption of wine is dropping, people drink less but want to have better quality and they spend more. To be able to sell big volumes of premium wines, they need to please as many people as possible. With Nebbiolo it is difficult to do so. It is a difficult variety with high tannins and acidity. But it’s also the characteristic that I love in Piedmont wines Cabernet/Merlot are used more for commercial wine.

Switzerland and Austria are two markets which are much more knowledgeable about Piedmont wines. I went to Holland, and there is much more connection with South Africa there for historic reasons. Taiwan is politically related with the US, so its taste goes more in American direction.

- In Russia I was surprised to find very knowledgeable people. My expectations were low. When we think about Russia, we think about vodka and that people are used to stronger spirits. I was impressed with two things. Firstly, that very young people and a lot of women are already very knowledgeable about wine. Secondly, the kind of taste you have — it is not commercial and quite developed.

- So we have future.

- Absolutely. And you drink cranberry juice — which is quite acidic!

- You are going to devote your life to wine. Do you have any interests outside wine which you wish to pursue?

- If I decided to live in Barbaresco which is a little village of 600 people, it was not for my social life. It was to totally devote myself to wine. I have some hobbies. I like to paint, to cook, but my main interest is wine.

- I would like to have someone knowledgeable about wine. In Barbaresco I already know everyone, and there is no one that I care about. Yet, I have to live in Barbaresco, I want to run the winery, and this is where I have to be. If I decide to find someone, he should be able to do his job comfortably in Barbaresco. Probably I will have to go in the direction of an artist like a singer, or a piano player — someone to find his inspiration in Barbaresco.

- Fifteen years ago a book Sori San Lorenzo was published about Gaja winery. If you were to continue writing it, what main events between 1990 and 2005 would you mention?

- The university of Alba did a clonal selection for many Nebbiolo vines and this work was carried out in our vineyards. Researchers selected different kinds of clones and planted them on our property. Together with Guido Rivella they checked how the clones were growing, how the ripeness developed in the vineyard, how the fermentation was going. It was a big study which lasted for 5 years in the mid 1990s. After the study the university selected three of the best clones and started to release them on the market. This was very important.

The other part of the book should be about Tuscan estates — Ca’Marcanda and Pieve Santa Restituta. Their story still has to be written.

- Something my father has taught me and I really care that wine has to be produced only on the vineyards that we own. This is going to remain my focus, so the production of Gaja is not going to change in Piedmont. It was decided ten years ago that we produce 25,000 cases and that’s the size.

I’m not sure about new ideas. Maybe I would like to try something alternative in the vineyards. We had little experiment with biodynamics but it didn’t work well. In fact, in Piedmont there is nobody who is practicing biodynamics. Our experiment was in Serralunga and wasn’t effective. Maybe I would like to go a little bit further in that direction. Even if we applied biodynamics, I will not say that my wine is good because it is biodynamic. My wine is good because it is Gaja.

Angelo Gaja about his daughter
For a family business it is always important and a challenge to integrate the successors in the right moment and in the right way. I am very happy that Gaia, after her diploma in economy, decided to work with us. Of course she has to learn a lot, because the business is complex and you must work your way up. Therefore she wants to get a feeling of all sections of the company. So she worked at Ca’Marcanda winery during harvest time. She also looks into the Gaja distribuzione import business. But her main function today is to support the Gaja export team and represent the company at important events all over the world. I am happy to see that she shows the right enthusiasm and dedication which is key for working successfully in a challenging environment.