Ca'Marcanda new releases

Ca'Marcanda Estate

about Angelo Gaja

Promis 2006

Price per 12 bottles               £261.60

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An exuberant cocktail of Merlot and Syrah, both grown on the red soils of the estate with a lovely mêlée of black fruits and peppery spice. - armit

"Dark in color. Very focused and precise on the nose, with a full body, wonderfully silky tannins and a fruity, bright aftertaste. Lively and delicious already. The best Promis ever. Merlot, Syrah and Sangiovese. Best after 2010." - 90 points, James Suckling, Wine Spectator September 2008

Further technical details

Magari 2006

Price per 12 bottles               £383.40

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Notes of cassis and vanilla on the nose, with hints of spice and dill. The palate is tight and mineral with again assertive cassis fruit. Exemplary purity and intensity, there is a structured, sinuous quality to the wine which reflects both its youth but also its potential. Long and refined on the palate, with beautifully dissolved grainy tannins and oak, the acidity and grip give the wine a really vital and racy feel. A brooding, potentially very fine wine – Magari is simply going from strength to strength.
50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc - armit

"Polished and rich, with lots of crushed raspberry and wet earth aromas that turn to flowers. Full-bodied, with a beautiful core of ripe fruit and silky tannins. Long and beautiful. Best after 2011." - 92 points, James Suckling, Wine Spectator September 2008

Further technical details

Ca'Marcanda 2004

List price per 6 bottles               £366.30

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Again, a beautiful deep colour but here the nose is more of prune fruit with low key new wood influences. On the palate an amazing attack of dark fruits and intense minerality with touches of lavender and tar. Again, beautiful framework of fine grained tannins and ripe, grippy acidity. Really big, black fruit, pastille middle palate. Long, long licquorice, lavender and mineral finish - absolute purity, intensity and poise - will last for 30 years or more! Brilliant. - armit

"The estate’s flagship Camarcanda is superb in 2004, in fact it is easily the finest wine Gaja has made in Maremma. This wonderfully detailed, nuanced wine flows from the glass with superb detail and clarity. It is a sweet, layered effort, with notes of sweet dark fruit, toasted oak, menthol, smoke, spices, flowers and minerals framed by silky, finessed tannins. There is plenty of depth and persistence on the palate, yet this remains a wine that is fundamentally about understated elegance, something you don’t see too often in wines from this part of Tuscany. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2024." - 92 points, Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate #177

Ca'Marcanda

Gaja's latest and most fought over Estate!

Ca’Marcanda is the Gaja family’s newest venture and the name comes from the Piedmontese term for “hours of endless negotiation”, which refers to the time Angelo spent trying to convince the previous owners to sell the estate!

Angelo was determined to secure the vineyard following extensive research into the soil type and micro climatic aspects, which convinced him of its great potential. The vineyard area is characterised by two distinct soil types – a red soil (terre brune) which contains more loam and clay and a whiter soil (terre chiare), where there is more limestone and deposits of bright white stones. These soil types, when combined with the warm day time maritime climate and cool evenings provides the perfect conditions for growing Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and even Syrah.

“If there is one area in Bolgheri where the soil type and structure is most similar to Sassicaia, then it is in Gaja's Ca''Marcanda vineyard.”

This statement is not made by a promotional brochure from Gaja - as you might suppose - but by Sebastiano Rosa, the winemaker at Sassicaia! It is interesting though that when Angelo Gaja was drawn to the renowned viticultural area of Bolgheri he undertook extensive research into the soil types and patterns in the area and concluded that the “Ca''Marcanda” vineyard area had the greatest potential. Ca'Marcanda, by the way, means “hours of endless negotiations”, after the battle he had to purchase the land from the previous owners!

The whole estate was replanted in 1996. From the extensive research he undertook he was able to pinpoint plantings by variety, which best suited the soil type and micro climatic conditions. By 2004, the Estate had established exactly the right mix and diversity, and the results in the wines from this time are dramatic. Today, Ca’Marcanda has rightly established a reputation of one of the leading estates in the renowned area of Bolgheri.

When Angelo Gaja first mentioned to me that he was looking at new projects in Tuscany, my emotions were pure excitement but tinged with a little concern. Excitement because knowing Angelo anything that he decides to do is inevitably a huge success but concern because I wondered whether he had realized quite what he was taking on. As you know, Piedmont and Tuscany are not exactly neighbouring regions and the soils, climate and wine styles are very contrasting.

Angelo was characteristically confident and over the last decade and more, it has been my enormous pleasure to see that my concern was completely unjustified. The Ca’Marcanda project was a huge undertaking, with the construction of new winery, the mapping of a previously un- planted vineyard site and the launch of a completely new range of wines. It has understandably taken some time but the wines today are amongst the leading wines of Bolgheri and with vintages 2004, 2005 & 2006 they have gone up another level.

Angelo Gaja is a phenomenon: a brilliant winemaker, an ambassador for Italy, a raconteur and an inspiration. He is also one of my very good friends. The wines reflect both the man and their regions of origin and I recommend them both whole-heartedly. John Armit