The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

Warning Warning - wine geekiness alert!... In a recent Gaja and Burgers post, I talked about Gaja Gromis Barolo 2000, and raised a question about the connection of Gaja Gromis and Gaja Dagromis. For the wine geeks such as myself this connection needed to be explored. And since there was little-to-nothing on the internet regarding this topic, I emailed Gaia Gaja, the daughter of Angelo Gaja. She and I had recently met at a dinner at Donato Enoteca . Dear Gaia, ... I need a clarification. From my research on the internet, it is not clear what is the relationship between the Gromis Barolo, the Gromis Conteisa Cerequio Barolo, Conteisa Langhe and the Dagromis Barolo, and when some of the labels changed. Dutifully Gaia responded. Here is the fascinating Gaja trivia that I learned. In 1995 Gaja bought a propriety in La Morra. The property is 10 hectares, almost all included in the Cerequio vineyard. The winery (an obsolete building which they do not use) had a stock of older vintages. It to...

Angelo Gaja is an icon in Italy. His single-vineyard Barbarescos sell for over $300 a bottle on release. Since the 1970's , his impact on Italy's image as a world-class wine power has been felt perhaps more than that of any other Italian producer. Several years ago, Lynette, a friend of friend, went on a buying spree and bought a lot of Gaja. With no space to store it. That's where Dan came in and generously offered to store the lot in exchange for once a year Gaja uncorking. Lynette agreed but only if Dan hosted a cozy dinner with gastronomic accoutrements worthy of Gaja. And thus the annual "Gaja and Burgers" night was born. Of course, Dan the gourmand would not make just any burgers. His are from special grass-fed beef, with all kinds of garden herbs inside, thick and grilled on a smoker grill to a juice-dripping perfection. Served on a bun with slices of heirloom tomato, shiso (in place of lettuce, this is a key move), and marinated pickles, with just a sp...

A quick tribute to Nebbiolo is in order. Absolute killer combo: pork - courtesy of Village Pub in Woodside (home of the rich & famous ), and Gaja Barolo - courtesy of Iron Chevsky. Juicy pork chop with sautéed cherries, and cherry-loaded 2003 Gaja Barolo “Dagromis”. Oh yeah baby! The much-maligned 2003 (due to extreme heat wave in Europe) nonetheless yielded some decadent wines in the hands of competent producers, and there are bargains to be had! (Just ask Jeremy Parzen over at DoBianchi blog .) After an hour of decanting, this rich 2003 was bursting with intense aromas of pure concentrated cherries jumping out of the glass, balanced by requisite acidity and soft tannins, the wine drinking superbly, while your 2004’s and 2001’s are tucked away aging in the cellar. This Gaja will undoubtedly get more subtle and complex with a bit more age (~3-5 years), but it’s a knock-out right now. Gratuitously, I felt compelled to post the photo of the truffle decadence (shown below). The wine ...