Ca'Marcanda Gaja Promis 2009

HEY everybody! I had a Gaja tonight. A freaking Angelo Gaja (pronounced gah-yah.) For those of you who don't know, Angelo Gaja is THE Italian winemaker, the guy that brought fine Italian wine into the international spotlight back in the mid 1900s. Known primarily as a producer of Barolo and Barbaresco in Piedmont, Gaja plays a serious game in Tuscany too. The wine I had was one of his super tuscans, a wine that historically scores in the 90s- the Ca'Marcanda Gaja Promis 2009.

On a not so interesting note (but still noteworthy,) I had this super tuscan tonight after having a glass of the United States' very first, original pinot noir. I know none of you will be laughing at this, but the funny thing is that the super tuscan felt more like a pinot than the actual pinot that I had. I was in stitches. A blend consisting of sangiovese, merlot, and syrah outdid a pinot noir in the silky texture department. Who would have thunk it?

Well okydokes. The color of the wine was a light garnet, showing some widely spaced legs (get your minds out of the gutter, you rotten children!) throughout the height of my glass. See-though, yet deep in the right light, the wine was a pretty gal. It was also very uniform, stretching the wine across the glass to the tip, there was little dilution, it was a solid color throughout.

As I hit the nose, no singular thing in particular came through. Rather, there was an awesome balance of different dark fruits, tobacco, forest notes, and raspberry jam. Not one of these characteristics stepped in front of the other- this young super tuscan is NOT messing around. I could only imagine what this wine could do in 8-10 years, aromatically at least.

Taking my first sip as I wolfed down my homemade fusilli (with some lovely tomato sauce and grated parmesan cheese,) I could see how Italian wines really can't be beat when being paired with food. I also had another glass of the stuff later outside with a cigarette, understanding further how Italian wine is truly an awesome compliment to cigars and cigarettes. The sangiovese brought me the succulent dark fruit and tobacco flavors, the syrah brought me the power and light acidity, and the merlot brought the stuff together, creating a roundness and smoothness, both throughout the mid palate and the finish. That finish by the way, was nice and long. The tannins also show up pretty nicely for a little while, like a cameo, for lack of a better word. These flavors and textures really came together to make something fun to drink (the 13.5% alcohol also helped.)

Well oh man, my first Gaja critique. To be completely honest, I don't feel worthy. Because of that, I kept it short and sweet. What I learned from this wine is that Italian wines can be had young, and that "the big guys" (big wine producers,) don't mess around. I had always known that, but this wine reminded me of it. For a while I had been looking at big time values for small bucks, but there's a reason those wines aren't as coveted as the Gaja's. I love the little guys, there's a huge chunk of my heart devoted to them, but these big guys are something totally out of this world.