Gaja and White Truffle Tasting at Wine Watch

"The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." 
Lucille Ball

There is nothing that is quite as decadent as white truffles but if you are going to pair a wine with this unique culinary experience Nebbiolo would be my first, second and third choice.  The Piedmont is one of the world's most unique grape growing regions and is the only area where the Nebbiolo varietal makes a high quality age worthy wine.  This is also the only part of the world where you can harvest the white truffle.   These truly unique fungi are not only very intense in flavor but also incredibly expensive pound for pound the most expensive food in the world today.  This is one of the only times when it comes to food and wine where the food almost always costs more than the wine here at our “Once in a Lifetime” events.

Join us as we experience one of the rare culinary treats alongside one of the great wine producers of the Piedmont with a selection of every top wine that Angelo Gaja makes in the Piedmont along with one of the greatest older vintage wines from this producer that we have ever tasted the legendary 1978 vintage Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo.   Wine Watch Caterings Toni Lampasone will be making a special tasting menu to accompany the tasting wines.  The fee for this event is $395 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com

Gaja and White Truffle Tasting at Wine Watch
Friday, October 28th
7pm

2012 Gaja Chardonnay Gaia and Rey Langhe
Price: $327.50    Sale $288.20

The wine is made originally from 9 acres planted to Chardonnay in the township of Treiso. With this historic bottling, Angelo Gaja showed the world that exceptional white wines could be produced in the Langhe Hills, where red wines had been produced almost exclusively before. He also delivered to the world what is now considered one of the greatest white wines of Europe, a truly remarkable accomplishment in a country where red grapes have historically dominated the realm of fine wine. Today, some of the fruit is also sourced from growing sites in Serralunga. In good vintages, the aging potential for this wine can exceed 10, 15, and even 20 years. GAJA recommends letting it age at least 5 years before opening and at least a half hour of aeration in a decanter before service.

2000 Gaja Costa Russi

(100 Points) Fabulous aromas of rose petals and cherries with hints of raspberries. Full-bodied, with ultrafine tannins and an incredible finish. This is so fine and so long. A real beauty that grows and grows on the palate. Great Nebbiolo. Greatest Costa Russi ever, from 34-year-old vines. Best after 2010. 890 cases made. “JS Wine Spectator Issue: Jul 31, 2004

1999 Gaja Costa Russi
Price: $395.00    Sale $347.60

(93 Points) 1999 Langhe Costa Russi ”Dark ruby. The 1999 Costa Russi is a soft, supple effort for the vintage, with a deeply nuanced nose and a rich core of sweet dark fruit buffered by prominent minerality on the seamless, long palate. Although not especially complex, this Costa Russi exhibits an elegance and finesse in its understated expression, and it is undoubtedly a highly enjoyable wine. True to type, it is also the most accessible of the single-vineyard wines from Barbaresco. It should age gracefully until at least age 20. 93/drink after 2009, 03/06

1998 Gaja Sperss

(97 Points) The 1989 Barolo Sperss is wonderfully complete and polished, as layers of seamless, ripe fruit emerge from its powerful frame with tons of class. The wine reveals stunning elegance and purity wrapped around a powerful core of Serralunga fruit that speaks volumes of the greatness of this terroir. The 1989 Sperss can be enjoyed today as the tannins are incredibly finessed, but it also looks to have many years of profound drinking ahead of it. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025.

1998 Gaja Barbaresco

(91 Points) Gaja's 1989 Barbaresco offers sweet, rich, tobacco, black-cherry, spicy fruit touched gently by new oak. It is made in a full-bodied, powerful style, with admirable depth. Approachable now, this wine should only improve over the next 10-12 years; it will last for two decades. Wine Advocate # 92 Apr 1994

1997 Gaja Barbaresco

(95 Points) Super Barbaresco. Intense aromas of ripe plums, violets and berries lead to a full-bodied palate with chewy tannins. Long finish tastes of superripe fruit. Lovely and powerful wine. Best after 2005. 5,000 cases made. “JS Wine Spectator Issue: December 31, 2000

1996 Gaja Barbaresco

(92 points)  Aromas of raspberry jam, with rose petal undertones. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long, caressing finish. This is beautiful now. Just right. Wine Spectator (Web Only- 2007)  

1982 Gaja Barbaresco San Tildin

10/4/2015 –  on Wine Searcher 94 Points
Gaja Charity Dinner & Tasting for HealthServe (Taberna, Bukit Merah): In a magnum, this was lovely. The nose was just a bit tight at first, taking a bit of time to come around. When it did, little puffs of smoke and earth and a little meatiness made way for nuances of dark cherries, dried flowers and herbs. The palate was much the same. It was almost a bit tight and seemingly rustic at first, quite uncharacteristic for a Gaja I thought, with fine but firm tannins and earthy, herby, meaty nuances at the fore. With a bit of time and air though, the wine really opened up and softened, showing a lovely clarity and grace in burgeoning flavours of dark cherries and dried berries all wrapped in beautifully integrated acidity. It was quite surprising how the wine went from tight to a wonderfully clean, clear, almost precise expression in half an hour, with an underlying sweetness in its fruit just starting to bubble to the surface. This felt so youthful and effortless. Lovely finish too, with the dark fruit met with a sprinkle of spice and earth and a little hint of meat, all still puckered with a touch of grippy tannins. A lovely wine and, in a magnum at least, this could go on for decades on end.

1978 Gaja Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo

(94 points) Angelo Gaja’s 1978 Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo was awesome. Still youthful and full of life, it flowed from the glass with notable sweetness and richness in an expansive, enveloping style. This very complete and beautiful wine warranted much more time than our tasting allowed. Readers fortunate enough to own this Barbaresco are in for a real treat. It was stunning. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2023.(Antonio Galloni) (9/ 2008) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Menu:

Parmesan flan with fresh shaved white alba and black burgundy truffles

Risotto with white wine,epoisses and fresh shaved white alba and black burgundy truffles

Veal Carpaccio with white and black truffles along with a nest of fine herbs

White Truffle and cark chocolate covered bacon

The fee for this event is $395 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463.