The name of Gaja’s Cabernet Sauvignon-based red, Darmagi, first released in 1985, means “what a pity” in the Piedmont dialect, said to be Giovanni Gaja’s reaction to the arrival of Bordeaux varieties in Barbaresco at the request of his son, Angelo. The winery, which boldly challenged a production system rooted in the historic Langhe tradition, presents here a pure Nebbiolo composed of power and evolution, one of those wines to indulge in once in a lifetime. ‘Costa Russi’ originates from the homonymous plot that Angelo Gaja impeccably cultivates within one of the prestigious Additional Geographical Mentions that extend over the territory of the municipality of Barbaresco. The Roncagliette cru is vast and complex, of rare and difficult interpretation, yet absolutely esteemed and vocated, located south of the village and on the border with the Tanaro Valley. The western slope, i.e., the side of the hill that descends towards the river, with a south exposure and an average altitude of 230 meters above sea level, takes its name from the old landowner, known as ‘il Russi’: an area of just under 4 and a half hectares characterized by the gray-blue marls of Sant’Agata Fossili, a homogeneous sandy formation up to 400 meters deep and derived from the uplift of the ancient seabed between 8 and 12 million years ago.
