1988 Gaja Sori San Lorenzo Langhe-Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy 750ml

Among the three single vineyard Barbarescos, the most aromatic and complex is the 1988 Sori San Lorenzo. This intense wine offers up a bouquet of spices, vanillin, herbs, cedar, and red and black fruits. While perfumed, the tannins once again dominate. There is freshness, full body, and plenty of length. All of Gaja's 1988 Barbarescos are backward, reserved wines. Even after sitting four days with the corks pulled they exhibited no signs of oxidation. While they should be uncommonly long-lived, I did not see quite the flesh and richness possessed by such vintages as 1985 and 1982.