Aldo Vaira's wines are characterised by pristine flavours and
clearly defined perfumes. These characters are attributable to the
position of his vineyards at about 400 metres above sea level in
the village of Vergne in the commune of Barolo. G.D. Vajra was
established in 1972 and named after Aldo's father, Giuseppe
Domenico Vajra. Aldo has been gradually increasing the area
under vine to 60 hectares, of which 10 are Nebbiolo for Barolo,
located in such strategic spots as Bricco delle Viole, Fossati, La
Volta and Coste di Vergne. A traditionalist, Aldo adheres to old style winemaking methods, though blends these with new
techniques, such as temperature-controlled fermentation, to
produce such superbly elegant wines.

The grapes for this wine are grown in the township of Barolo in
three different vineyards: Fossati (soil of Sant'Agata fossil marls),
which faces south-east and was planted between1969-2004;
Coste di Vergne (soil of limestone marls), which faces south-west,
planted in 1995; the 180º east-west vineyard of La Volta (soil of
Sant'Agata fossil marls), planted between 1998-2000. The vineyards
are located at 380-480 metres above sea level. Vines are trained
with Guyot system and a green harvest usually takes place
according to vigour and the climate during the growing season.
Sustainable viticulture is used in all the vineyards and there is no
irrigation.

The grapes were hand picked and hand sorted in the second and
third week of October. Fermentation using only indigenous yeasts
took place in custom-designed vertical vats. Maceration lasted 25
days at temperatures not exceeding 32ºC with gentle punch
downs. Malolactic fermentation took place in stainless steel vats
the following spring. The wine was then moved to large Slavonian
oak casks (40, 50 and 75hL) to age for 30 months with racking
once a year. The wine was blended in spring prior to bottling.

Perfect with a hearty tomato-based ragu

Decanter World Wine Awards 2021, Silver Medal