The winery's historic Gaia & Rey Chardonnay is a wine that not only reshaped the legacy of the house itself, but also redefined Piedmont as one of the truly great winemaking regions of the world. The wine’s name shows how it important it is for Angelo: it is in fact named after his first daughter Gaia and her grandmother Clotilde Rey, who often appears in his stories as a central figure in his upbringing. To produce it he takes maniacal care of his vineyards and in the winery uses only the best wood, seeking cleanliness in every minimum detail and great attention paid to every minimal particular. Nothing occurs by chance nor should be overlooked. The first Chardonnay vineyard was planted in 1979, in Treiso, in a soil that helps preserve the acidity in the wine. Then, ten years later, he planted a new vineyard in Serralunga. According to Angelo, the soil there is even better for the wine than that of Treiso. The wine matures in oak barrels and 19,300 bottles are produced. Gaia & Rey was first bottled in 1983 and released the following year. With this historic bottling, Angelo Gaja showed the world that exceptional white wines could be produced in the Langhe Hills, where red wines had been produced almost exclusively before. He also delivered to the world what is now considered one of the greatest white wines of Europe, a truly remarkable accomplishment in a country where red grapes have historically dominated the realm of fine wine.