G.D. Vajra Barolo Ravera 2017
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The aromatics of 2017 Barolo Ravera are an intricacy of red tones, with cherry, rose petals, baked raspberry alongside with orange peel, cedar, korla pear and herbal whiffles of mint, lavender, thyme, oolong tea. The palate is characterized by a zing of iron tones and the mid-palate volume that are such a signature of Ravera, with silky tannins and a profound and long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
From the township of Novello and from what is now widely recognized as one of the denomination's top vineyard sites, this is just stunning, offering intense aromas of wild berries, new leather, floral notes, camphor and grilled herb. The delicious, structured palate shows finesse and power, featuring ripe red cherry, blood orange, cedar, licorice and mineral notes suggesting tangy iron. Noble tannins provide support. Reflecting the vintage, this won't need years to come around but will also age well for at least another decade. Best After 2022
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James Suckling
Very floral with pure fruit, such as cherries and raspberries. It’s full-bodied with ultra fine tannins that are energetic and focused. The center palate shows such wonderful fruit character, yet it’s weightless and energetic.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lifted and herbaceous, the 2017 Barolo Ravera is noted by aromas of fresh pine, ripe red cherry, licorice, and menthol. The palate has depth without weight and is noted by ripe raspberry fruit, apricot, and black tea.
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Wine Spectator
Notable for its purity of fruit, this Barolo features black cherry, black currant, violet, mineral and tar aromas and flavors. Harmonious and lithe, with an underpinning of mineral that lingers through the dynamic finish. Best from 2025.
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Wine & Spirits
Flavors of crunchy black cherry surround a taut core of cool, ferrous tannin in this powerful wine. Scents of rose petal and notes of licorice add to the wine’s intrigue, the fl avors gaining vibrance with exposure to air. Appealing now for the polished tannins and vibrant fruit, this will only get better over the next decade.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The G.D. Vajra 2017 Barolo Ravera shows solid build and consistency, with more rich and saturated fruit compared to the other Barolo releases from this historic estate. The Ravera cru offers broad shoulders with a tight textural fabric. That powerful approach makes a good sounding board for the wine's dark cherry, plum, dark mineral and spice flavors. This is more of a red meat wine. 6,000 bottles were released. Rating:94+
Other Vintages
2019-
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The Vajra family has farmed Bricco delle Viole, the highest cru in Comune di Barolo, since the 1880s. At the young age of fifteen, Aldo Vajra embraced the dream to revive his family legacy. Displaying a vision and commitment belying his young age he took over the estate in 1968, turning a new page.
Aldo soon acquired the first organic certification of the region (1971), created private biotype selections (selezioni massali) of Nebbiolo and Dolcetto, pioneered the renaissance of Freisa, a noble yet forgotten local grape (1980) and the cultivation of Rhine Riesling in Piemonte (1985).
Today, the Vajra family continues the vineyard research focusing on the influence of soil and climate change. The winery is trail-blazing the rediscovery of Chiaretto di Nebbiolo and the wines of the 17th century – long before Barolo was created - through two limited-production wines: “N.S. della Neve” (a champagne-method rosé nature) and “Claré JC”, a partial whole-cluster fermentation of pure Nebbiolo.
High elevation vineyards are a unique factor to the Vajra wines, for their ability to express finesse and remarkable complexity over power.
Attention to details and humility towards the nature, uncompromised efforts and humanity: so are Aldo and Milena, now joined by their energetic children Giuseppe, Francesca and Isidoro, and by an amazing team of young professionals, in their quest for an authentic expression of their land into the wines. G.D. Vajra is an independent winery, entirely family-owned.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.