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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
In 1995, GAJA decided to purchase a second farm in the Barolo appellation, this time in the township of La Morra. Nearly all of the property's vineyards lie in the famed Cerequio cru, widely recognized as one of the best growing sites on the west side of the Barolo-Albra road. The location of the cru along with the border between the townships of La Morra and Barolo (to the south) and its prized fruit made it one of the most coveted and "contended" in the appellation, with both townships vying for greater surface area under their control. For this reason, GAJA decided to call the wine Conteisa, Piedmontese dialect for the Italian contesa, meaning the contended vineyard and in 1996 bottled the first vintage.
Vuosikerta 1998
Italy/Barolo/Barbaresco/Excellent to Exceptional – A vastly underrated vintage, 1998 had the misfortune of being sandwiched between 1997 (a vintage that was overrated) and the stellar 1999. 1998 offers everything you want in a manual Barolo or Barbaresco – nice concentration, firm tannins and precise acidity. In fact, it is the acidity of these wines that, in my opinion, carries these wines, keeping a wonderful freshness and elegance to these wines. This is not the most concentrated vintage of the last decade (1999, 2001 and 2004 produced much more powerful wines), but there is admirable depth of fruit and great balance and finesse. Most of the best Barbaresco bottlings as well as many 1998 Barolos drink beautifully now, while some of the best Barolos will provide another 10-12 years of enjoyment.