With fruit from Serralunga d'Alba, the Gaja 2018 Barolo Sperss is impossible to confuse with any other Barolo. The bouquet has a firm, etched quality with dark fruit, pencil shavings, iron and red brick. But there is also a fragrant interlude of wild cherry, forest fruit and orange peel. The Barolo Conteisa shows more overall ripeness and silkiness in this vintage, but the Sperss is all about muscle, power and structure. It promises a longer aging potential and bottle evolution.

Sperss is sourced from a seven-hectare site in Serralunga, purchased by Angelo in 1988. This 2018 is a more delicate expression due to the cool, wet vintage conditions. It has a smoky hedgerow berry fragrance with good concentration of dark fruits underlined by grippy tannins. There's lovely acidity to provide balance, and it finishes with some playful cherry and strawberry. This will reward mid-term cellaring.