Sori San Lorenzo’ was the first single-vineyard bottling of Barbaresco Gaja made

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This vineyard is located just south of the village of Barbaresco within the Secondine cru. The GAJA family purchased this vineyard from the parish of Alba and named it after San Lorenzo, the patron saint of Alba’s cathedral.  Its first vintage was 1967. The vineyard, ‘Sori San Lorenzo’, was the favourite of Angelo’s father, Giovanni, as he believed it offered the best expression of Barbaresco. ‘Sori’ means the top of the hill that faces the sun and is considered the best site. This vineyard is almost 3 hectares and faces directly south. It is located closest to the Tanaro River valley and feels the impact of the warm air currents from the river; it’s the first to ripen and to be harvested. The soils of Sori San Lorenzo are also very special because of the clay and high concentration of limestone. Some of the oldest vines of Gaja are planted in this vineyard. The wines from the Sori San Lorenzo vineyard are austere in their youth, and the biggest in terms of the structure - tannic and concentrated – in comparison to the other three single-vineyard Barbarescos Gaja makes. Sori San Lorenzo wines require a longer period of ageing than the other vineyards to be ready to enjoy. These wines also tend to be the longest lived of the three single-vineyard Barbarescos.
"If the Barbaresco Costa Russi expresses itself with purity and grace, the 2016 Barbaresco Sorì San Lorenzo struts out stacked and tall. It has firmer textural support and is not as timid or as withholding as the Costa Russi. The Sorì San Lorenzo site is located closest to the warm air currents that travel down the Tanaro River valley, and this vineyard site is always the first to ripen and be harvested. You get a stronger mineral note here with iron rust, pencil shaving and potting soil intertwined with the primary fruit, showing dazzlingly intricate complexity and depth."- Robert Parker