In Italian, Magari means 'if only it were true', an expression used often in Italy to express desire, hope, and a vision of a bright future. This GAJA wine was so named to celebrate great things to come in the Bolgheri DOC region of Tuscany.
Serve at 16-18 °C with beef steak, game dishes with truffle.
The 2020 Bolgheri Rosso Magari is Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, with the Franc in a leading position at 60% to 65%. Born in a vintage that saw plenty of sunshine and luminosity from the Tyrrhenian Sea just a few kilometers away, this edition of Magari is especially round, voluminous and fleshed out. The 2020 vintage is considered quite toasty elsewhere in Tuscany, but in fact was more contained here along the Tuscan Coast thanks to steep diurnal shifts between day and nighttime temperatures and a cool spring. The year also saw enough rain at the right moments to assure stress-free fruit ripening. The wine opens to dark blackberry and sweet spice, with a very polished and silky side to robust fruit concentration.
Gaja perched a top a steep hill in the Langhe sits the small village of Barbaresco, home of the Gaja winery. The story of the Gaja Winery can be traced to a singular, founding purpose: to produce original wines with a sense of place which reflect the tradition and culture of those who made it. This philosophy has inspired five generations of impeccable winemaking. It started over 150 years ago when Giovanni Gaja opened a small restaurant in Barbaresco, making wine to complement the food he served. In 1859, he founded the Gaja Winery, producing some of the first wine from Piedmont to be bottled and sold outside the region. Since that time, the winery has been shaped by each generation’s hand, notably that of Clotilde Rey, Angelo Gaja’s grandmother. Her passion for uncompromising quality influenced and informed Angelo Gaja. Through Angelo, these values have become the cornerstone of the Gaja philosophy and are engrained in every aspect of wine productionIn 1961, Angelo Gaja began his mission of bringing this great winery to an even higher level. He was the first to use barriques, 225-liter French oak barrels. Under his direction, Gaja pioneered the production of single-vineyard designated wines and was the first to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varietals in Piedmont. He was also instrumental in elevating the native Nebbiolo grape to world-class esteem.Angelo Gaja is joined by the fifth generation of the Gaja family – his daughters Gaia and Rossana and his son Giovanni. Together they continue to advance the winery’s legacy. To fully realize their vision, all Gaja wines are produced exclusively from grapes grown in estate-owned vineyards, including 250 acres in Piedmont’s Barbaresco and Barolo districts as well as estates in Pieve Santa Restituta (Montalcino) and Ca’Marcanda (Bolgheri). It is from these storied vineyards, and their terroir – the combination of soil, weather and vines that grow upon them, that Gaja wines reveal their true heart and soul.
