Wine By Nine

Red Wine by Gaja from Piedmont, Italy. The 2003 Sori San Lorenzo is simply awesome. Boasting the darkest color of these wines as well as captivating aromatics, it is a brooding effort packed with notes of earthiness, tar, smoke, grilled herbs, cassis, licorice and super-ripe plummy fruit. It shows the qualities of 2003 in its full-throttle, expansive style yet it also possesses remarkable balance as well as fine tannins for the vintage. Although there is a little heat on the finish, I found this an utterly compelling wine. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2020. -Wine Advocate Almost always the most powerful and austere of Gaja's 5 single-vineyard wines, requiring a longer time to fully develop. Highly concentrated currant and black cherry fruit with a hint of coffee in addition to aromas of fine herbs, minerals and exotic spices. A very focused, concentrated wine with a long, lingering finish and refined tannins, it has excellent aging potential.