🏰 The 2017 vintage for Gaja Barbaresco Costa Russi was one of the smallest in production due to replanting efforts. It offers a warmer, softer, richer, and more textured character compared to other Gaja Barbarescos, with noticeable vintage heat and sweeter, more accessible tones of cherry, cassis, and fragrant blue flower. While Costa Russi usually features lifted notes of aniseed and sambuco, they are less pronounced in this vintage. It's a balanced and carefully assembled Barbaresco with a lean approach, fine tannins, and bright acidity. The Costa Russi site is one of Gaja's steepest, where old vines draw sufficient water even in hot years. 【 Smallest vintage with warmer, richer character 】 This wine presents as a pretty red with ripe-cherry, strawberry, and floral aromas and flavors. It is full-bodied and very tight with a creamy, polished palate that lingers for minutes, supported by very fine and polished tannins. Dark, layered, and wonderfully inviting, it expresses the restrained style of the vintage with terrific depth, showcasing black cherry, plum, mocha, spice, leather, and star anise. A dense and tightly wound style, it offers a firm grip on a core of rose, cherry, strawberry, and currant, leading to a long, resonant finish with mineral, tobacco, and earth notes. Seductive aromas of raspberry, summer flower, dried roses, salt, graphite, and nut are also noted. 🥂 Better after 2022, this wine has a long life ahead and possesses the hallmarks of an admirable investment in fine wines. Ideal for special occasions, fine dining, or cellaring for future enjoyment. 🍴 Excellent with lamb. Its richness and structure also pair well with roasted red meats, game, truffle dishes, and aged cheeses.