2010 is being heralded as the greatest Brunello vintage ever; James Suckling comments, ‘the market is apparently on fire. Wine lovers are rejoicing in the incredible high quality of the vintage, and rightly so. The 2010 vintage is a new benchmark for Tuscany’s iconic wine, producing reds with wonderful intensity, structure, and energy.” The wines are so balanced and ripe they can be enjoyed now, with incredible richness and depth on the palate. Vintages like this come along once or twice a lifetime and collectors should focus on these superbly priced, critically acclaimed wines. As Suckling concludes, ‘The 2010 vintage made great wines. There is no doubt about it. This is why you have to buy some.’ To read our Brunello di Montalcino 2010 vintage report please click here.
Gaja is one of the great wine names of Italy and the world, known best for his Barbarescos and Barolos, which created a new paradigm in Italian wine-making. In the 1980s, after establishing himself as a true wine-making virtuoso, he quickly realised that all of the best vineyards in Piedmont had been bought up. This was largely thanks his flagship wines cementing prices that could compete with leading Bordeaux and resultantly leading terroir in this region became goldmines. As such he naturally turned his attention to Italy’s traditionally most prestigious red wine, Brunello di Montalcino. In 1994 he acquired his first property in Tuscany, Pieve Santa Restituta, a glorious 16 hectares vineyard in Brunello di Montalcino. Gaja’s two decades of work in Brunello di Montalicno, synthesising his wine-making methods in Piedmonte and applying them to Sangiovese, resulted in the release of his first vintage of Brunello in 2005.
The quality of Gaja’s Brunello embodies the greatness of their other leading wines in Piedmonte and in 2010 they have made one of the wines of the vintage, scoring 97 points from James Suckling. The difference, however, is in the price, at £160 for a case of six bottles, Gaja’s Brunello di Montalcino provides, for the time being, incredible value. Although no doubt given the acclaim of this vintage, the score and the grand name of Gaja, prices are sure to rise. Within only a few years in bottle past vintages have risen quickly, with a score of 97, comfortably their highest ever, the 2010 is a must buy wine!
| 2010 | £160 |
| 2009 | £190 |
| 2008 | £200 |
| 2007 | £270 |
Gaja’s – Pieve Santa Restituta Brunello di Montalcino 2010 is for all these reasons incredibly exciting and extremely collectible. It quite simply is one of the wines to own in this glorious vintage, a wine to savour for decades or to buy for an investment. It will sell out immediately leaving the market scrambling. It is very unlikely that the market will ever see a 97 point scoring Gaja wine below £30 again. To put this into perspective Gaja’s 97 point scoring, 2010 single vineyard Barbersco Sori Tildin costs £1,100 for a case of six bottles. With a Price Over Points Ratio (POP) of 18.82 and a price of £26.60 a bottle or £34.46 duty and VAT paid, Gaja’s Brunello di Montalcino 2010 is something truly special!
James Suckling, 97 points
“Fabulous aromas of plums, prunes, Christmas pudding and berries. Full body, ultra-fine tannins and a long and intense finish. Polished and refined. Give this wine two or three years to soften.”
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