Tasting Notes
Antonio Galloni 97
The 2021 Barolo Sperss is a huge, dense wine. Black fruit, graphite, scorched earth, tobacco and incense emerge, but with great reluctance. This powerhouse Serralunga Barolo packs a tremendous punch. It’s classic Serralunga all the way. Readers should plan on being patient.
Anticipated maturity: 2028-2051
Wine Advocate 98+
With fruit from Serralunga d’Alba, the Gaja 2021 Barolo Sperss is marked by a distinctive ferrous note of rusty nail or soft earth that frames a core of dark fruit. The wine is exceptionally balanced and beautiful with depth and a high level of fruit purity. Unlike the Conteisa, which ends with a sweeter floral note, this wine is decidedly salty and stony on the finish, giving it a harder edge in terms of structure.
Anticipated maturity: 2028-2055
Jeb Dunnuck 100
The 2021 Barolo Sperss is a jeweled ruby color and has a beguiling matched balance of power and finesse. Seamless from start to finish, it offers notes of black raspberries, sweet flowers, fresh herbs, and apricot. It’s saturating with a medium-bodied richness that expands through the palate, with refined, polished tannins, even acidity, and a profound length on the finish. It’s a harmonious and resonating wine with a lot to enjoy over the next several decades.
Anticipated maturity: 2025-2045
James Suckling 97
An austere, restrained wine with aromas of graphite, red currants, strawberries, red cherries and blood oranges. Full-bodied, it shows youthful character, citrus and toast flavors, crisp acidity and firm, dusty yet fine-grained tannins. Austere finish, but in a positive way. Best after 2026.
