GAJA: A FAMILY PORTRAIT
You have to believe.’ ‘It’s a question of faith.’ ‘There’s no room for doubt!’ Not a sermon from a Baptist preacher backed by a gospel choir, nor a motivational speech by a coach in a self-improvement seminar. Instead, winemaker Angelo Gaja is talking. Sitting with his daughters Gaia and Rossana in a soberly decorated room inside the Barbaresco castle, he is answering the question: ‘How do you become the best in your field?’
In the case of Gaja – still the most internationally acclaimed name in Italian wine – success stems from an unshakeable self-confidence and an unwavering ambition, supported by the potential of the Langhe terroir. It was here, in Italy’s Piedmont region, that the Gaja story started more than a century and a half ago, with a tavern next to a river port.
Solid foundations
Winding at the foot of Barbaresco’s hill, the Tanaro is today a pale shadow of what was once a mighty river. Back in the 19th century, boys would swim in it and fishermen could make a living– a flat-bottomed ferryboat – and close to its dock, the Gajas ran the Osteria del Vapore, where their wines were first served and sold. The family’s other business was transport. Angelo’s great-grandfather Giovanni organised caravans of foodstuffs and other goods along the Via del Sale, the ‘salt road’ linking Piedmont and Liguria. It was the first sign of an innate aptitude for expansion and trade.
