Gaja

The Gaja story began beside the Tanaro river below the hill of Barbaresco, where the family ran the Osteria del Vapore close to the ferry dock; the family's wines were first served and sold there. Angelo Gaja's great-grandfather Giovanni also ran a transport business, organising caravans of foodstuffs and other goods along the Via del Sale, the salt road linking Piedmont and Liguria. The winemaking business itself was established later by Giovanni's daughter-in-law, Clotilde Rey, known at home as Tildìn. Widowed in 1944, she bought new vineyards and led the winery, attracting clients such as the Zegnas and Agnellis. By the time Angelo joined in 1961, Tildìn and his father Giovanni had put together 30 hectares of vineyards and created a brand. Wine Spectator reported in 2013 that Gaja Barbaresco is a wine the family has produced for more than a century. The headquarters of the Gaja winery is the Barbaresco castle, a mansion once owned by Domizio Cavazza.

• Family ran the Osteria del Vapore by the Tanaro ferry dock, where its wines were first served and sold
• Clotilde Rey (Tildìn), widowed in 1944, bought new vineyards and led the winery
• 30 hectares of vineyards in place when Angelo Gaja joined in 1961
• Headquarters: the Barbaresco castle, once owned by Domizio Cavazza

Angelo Gaja, born in Alba in 1940 and holding a degree in business economics, joined the family business in 1961. Within barely a decade he began using only the estate's own grapes, where buying some fruit from local growers had been common practice, and started vinifying the grapes from each vineyard separately. In 1966 he tested barriques, which were then unfamiliar in the area. A triptych of Barbaresco crus followed: Sorì San Lorenzo (first vintage 1967), Sorì Tildìn (1970) and Costa Russi (1978). Decanter credits their unusually high prices with ennobling both Nebbiolo and the wider Barbaresco zone. Decanter describes winemaker Guido Rivella, recently retired, as having spent 45 years technically interpreting Angelo's oenological ideas. Decanter also notes that the house style defies classification as either traditional or modernist, citing David Gleave MW: 'Gaja is Gaja'.

• Angelo Gaja: born 1940 in Alba; joined the family business in 1961
• Moved to estate-grown grapes only and separate vinification of each vineyard
• Tested barriques in 1966
• Sorì San Lorenzo (1967), Sorì Tildìn (1970), Costa Russi (1978)
• Winemaker Guido Rivella, recently retired, spent 45 years interpreting Angelo's ideas

Darmagi, a red, is made from what was in 1978 the first Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard planted in Piedmont. The family's whites include Gaia & Rey, a Chardonnay from a vineyard planted in 1979 and first launched in 1983, aged six to eight months in barrique, and Alteni di Brassica, a Sauvignon Blanc launched three years later. Sperss comes from a high plot in Serralunga, in Barolo, where Angelo's father Giovanni worked as a young man; Wine Spectator reports that Angelo named it Sperss, or nostalgia, for his father's memories of its quality. In 2000 the winery added a small proportion of Barbera to Sorì San Lorenzo, Sorì Tildìn and Costa Russi, so the three were downgraded from Barbaresco DOCG to Langhe Nebbiolo. On 1 July 2016 Gaia Gaja announced that as of the 2013 vintage all three would again be released as Barbaresco DOCG.

• Darmagi: from the first Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard planted in Piedmont (1978)
• Gaia & Rey Chardonnay: vineyard planted 1979, launched 1983, six to eight months in barrique
• Alteni di Brassica: Sauvignon Blanc launched three years after Gaia & Rey
• Sperss: from a high plot in Serralunga, in Barolo
• 2000: the three crus downgraded to Langhe Nebbiolo after a small proportion of Barbera was added
• From the 2013 vintage the three crus are again Barbaresco DOCG

Pieve Santa Restituta in Montalcino was founded in 1974 by Roberto Bellini and bought by the Gaja family in 1994, according to the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino; Wine Spectator notes that the property is home to a centuries-old church. Wine Spectator also reports that no wines were released from the 2002 and 2003 vintages there because tough weather affected quality, and it rated the Pieve Santa Restituta Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille 2006 94 points. The family also owns Ca' Marcanda in Castagneto Carducci/Bolgheri; speaking at Wine Spectator's 2013 Wine Experience, Gaia Gaja called Bolgheri 'the only place in Italy where there is no deep tradition of wine'. Wine Spectator describes the Ca' Marcanda Bolgheri Camarcanda 2009 as a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and rated it 92 points. On Sicily's Mount Etna, Decanter reports that Gaja, in partnership with local winemaker Alberto Graci, owns vineyards in Biancavilla on the southwest side of the volcano for the Idda winery, whose first wines were to be an Etna Rosso 2017 and a Sicilia Bianco 2018 from the Carricante grape.

• Pieve Santa Restituta (Montalcino): founded 1974 by Roberto Bellini, bought by the Gaja family in 1994
• No Pieve Santa Restituta wines released from the 2002 and 2003 vintages
• Ca' Marcanda (Castagneto Carducci/Bolgheri): Camarcanda is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc
• Idda (Etna): vineyards in Biancavilla, in partnership with Alberto Graci

As of Decanter's March 2023 profile, Angelo Gaja works with his daughters Gaia and Rossana, and Gaia counts the family team as five, including her mother Lucia and her brother Giovanni. Gaia Gaja, born in 1979, is Angelo's eldest daughter and joined the family business in 2004. Rossana Gaja, born in 1981, joined in 2009 and works on the estate's responses to climate change; Decanter credits her with the winery surrounding itself with geologists, botanists, entomologists and geneticists. Gaja has planted barley, mustard and phacelia in its vineyards. Gaia has described family decisions as starting from a tasting of the wines.

• Gaia Gaja: born 1979, joined 2004
• Rossana Gaja: born 1981, joined 2009; works on responses to climate change
• Giovanni Gaja: Gaia's brother, also in the family business
• Barley, mustard and phacelia planted in the vineyards

Primary source: the producer's own site, https://www.gaja.com/, carries contact details only and has no content pages, so no primary page was used. Secondary sources: Decanter, 'Gaja: A family portrait' (updated 23 March 2023), https://www.decanter.com/interviews/gaja-family-portrait-interview-434980/; Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, Pieve Santa Restituta member page, https://www.consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it/en/1524/pieve-santa-restituta; Wine Spectator, 'Gaja: Modernity, Tradition and Passion in Italy' (29 October 2013), https://www.winespectator.com/articles/gaja-modernity-tradition-and-passion-in-italy-49139. Last verified 2026-09-23