We don’t sell wine, we sell Gaja.

Gaja is one of the stars of the world wine scene, a producer that is widely credited with transforming not just the image and international reputation of its native Piedmont region, but of Italy as a whole. It has had a significant impact on the way that Italian wine is grown, made, priced, distributed and marketed. Gaja is one of a handful of fine wine brands that can compete with and charge the same prices as the top names of Burgundy and Bordeaux.

Gaja celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2009 – it was founded with only two hectares (five acres) by Giovanni Gaja, whose ancestors originally came from Spain in the 17th Century – and is now run by Gaia Gaja, the fifth generation of the family to make wine in Barbaresco. Angelo Gaja – of whom more in a moment – is often credited with initiating the winery’s modern success, but there were other important predecessors. Angelo points to the crucial influence of his grandmother, Clotilde Rey, after whom the winery’s Chardonnay, Gaia & Rey, is named, as „the person who pushed my father and grandfather in the direction of quality“.

Angelo’s father, another Giovanni, continued the good work. It was he who began to acquire some of the best vineyards in Barbaresco in the 1960s, including the three „crus“ for which the winery is best known: Sorì San Lorenzo, Sorì Tildìn and Costa Russi. He was also the first person to put the name Gaja, or rather GAJA, in large red type on his labels in 1937, demonstrating a flair for marketing that he passed on to his son and granddaughter. „We don’t sell Barbaresco, Barolo, Bolgheri or Brunello,“ says Angelo, „we sell Gaja.“