Gaja - Ca'Marcanda 2016

'I remember Gaia Gaja's comment to me when I visited Ca' Marcanda in 2017 right after the vintage. She told me that the heat and dry conditions had created "bonsai fruit." Diminutive cluster size due to drought gives the 2017 Bolgheri Rosso Camarcanda extra everything: extra aromatic intensity, concentration, structure and acidity. The winemaking team was careful to remove seeds before fermentation to avoid any greenness or astringency. However, this is a hot-vintage wine, and those aromas of blackberry preserves and baked plum leave no doubt about it. The wine is richly concentrated. In fact, this is probably the last vintage of Camarcanda we will see with this level of density. Steps have been taken since 2017 to assure more finesse in this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Olive trees with gnarled limbs and wispy tips surround the Ca’ Marcanda winery in Bolgheri, Tuscany. The thick planting density of these ancient trees creates a buffer of quiet and shade that surrounds a modern building made with neutral colors and natural materials. This deliberate landscape, with each tree trucked in from a special nursery, is poignantly simple yet radically effective in transporting you to another world. This is Angelo Gaja’s exclusive world on the Tuscan Coast. “When we designed the winery and the grounds, I specifically had this olive grove in mind,” says the legendary Italian vintner dressed in a bluish-gray T-shirt that reflects the colors of the surrounding trees. Olives are loaded with symbolism across Mediterranean cultures. They are an eternal link between humankind and earth, and the trees’ long life span makes them a metaphor for resilience. That theme is central to the Ca’ Marcanda identity, a winery that this tenacious Piedmont-native started in 1996 as a challenge to himself. With great personal expertise and generations of family know-how acquired in the Langhe growing Nebbiolo and the other grapes of Piedmont, Angelo Gaja could not resist the allure of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah in sunny Tuscany. Ca’ Maranda makes three red wines and one white. The top-end red is Camarcanda (with the red label) that features Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, although past vintages saw a large component of Merlot in the blend that has since been removed. The wine with the black label is Magari, and it is made with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Merlot was featured here too, but it was subsequently removed.'

Robert Parker Wine Advocate