From the estate’s property in Serralunga d’Alba, the 2017 Barolo Sperss is fresh with pine, perfectly ripe cherry, leather, and aniseed. It has classic Serralunga structure without being imposing, with ripe up-front fruit of dried raspberry as well as tea leaf, and refreshing acidity on the finish. It is layered with depth, but is remarkably drinkable now.
Very intense aromas of roasted hazelnuts with dried flowers, tar and fruit. Full-bodied and very tight with a solid core of chewy yet refined tannins, this is a classically proportioned Barolo that displays superb structure and length. A thoroughly great wine.
With fruit from Serralunga d’Alba, that added concentration and determination are expected, especially in a hot and dry vintage such as 2017. Here you get dark
cherry fruit with cassis and wild plum. There are also floral aromas that veer toward red rose more than they do violets or blue flowers. And, of course, you get some
of those iron-rich or mineral notes of rusty nail or iron that are often associated with Sperss.”
Gaja's 2017 Barolo Sperss starts off with attractive notes of ripe strawberry, against a background of white chalk and gentle sweet-spice notes of oak. On the palate it is much more fleshy and concentrated than the 2018, with a soft, round and full impression and some little, crunchy, drier tannins. The tannins are more compact and fine and are closing down the fruit a little today but of course, there is always the Gaja signature of supreme finesse to balance this.
