2022 Barbaresco
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Tasting notes
The 2022 Barbaresco is a pure and total seduction. Plush contours and lifted aromatics make a strong first impression. Cedar, tobacco, new leather, licorice meld into a core of red Nebbiolo fruit. A wine of density and texture, the 2022 is outrageously beautiful. High class.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Showing that Gaja Midas Touch, the 2022 Barbaresco is a seamless wine with a long, polished mouthfeel. This vintage saw 10% whole-cluster fruit. That fermentation method started on an experimental level in 2021, but it's giving encouraging results, Giovanni Gaja tells me, because it reinforces impressions of freshness, especially in the hot years. This Barbaresceo shows Nebbiolo purity, while remaining chiseled and elegant all the while. The bouquet peels off to reveal pretty layers of crushed rose, stone and plump fruit. The tannins are beautifully balanced.
All of Gaja’s 2022s have a good richness of color with a jeweled ruby hue, and the 2022 Barbaresco is fresh and ripe on the nose with lovely purity and a layered feel. The nose is spicy with notes of wild strawberries, candied orange, white pepper, and fresh flowers. The palate has a rounded feel but, from the start, has refreshing acidity and an elegant tapering finish. The tannins are ripe and defined without being aggressive. Drink 2026-2046.
Fresh and restrained wine, with an exquisite mix of graphite, orange peel, dried cherries and strawberries, as well as whiffs of potpourri and licorice. Medium- to full-bodied, it displays velvety, ripe tannins with tight-knit acidity and a juicy style, despite the more biting finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2026.
About the producer
Gaja has been at the forefront of the Piedmont wine scene for many years and is Barbaresco’s most decorated producer. The winery has received a record number of Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri awards – the highest accolade from Italy’s leading wine publication.