My recent virtual tasting with Giuseppe Vajra of G.D. Vajra still has me buzzing. Far from the usual awkward camera angles and muted coughs, the session was rich with family stories, thoughtful farming philosophy, and an engaging deep dive into Nebbiolo that had me smiling into my glass. Giuseppe and I share a love for the technical, nerdy side of wine — and that connection made the tasting especially rewarding.
A little backstory before we sip: Vajra is a family-run estate perched on the western heights of Barolo, where the hills play by their own rules. High elevation means light rules the ripening more than heat — wind over warmth, cool nights and intense sun during the day — the kind of place where grapes learn subtlety by virtue of altitude. The family saga began in 1968 when Giuseppe’s father, Also, swapped city life (and a very brief hippie phase) for the contadino dream. After one life-changing summer he stayed, and 2022 marked his 50th harvest. Fifty. Years. Of. Dirt. Wisdom. Tell me that doesn’t deserve a toast.
The 2022 vintage: hot, dry, and full of lessons
2022 threw the usual modern curveballs — heat and drought — so Vajra leaned into patience and practical ingenuity. Organic farming, yes, but more importantly: patience. Giuseppe insisted the real art is letting vines age. Older vines reach deeper water, are steadier across weird seasons, and frankly, get more interesting with time.
Viticulture highlights that made me nod:
- Pruning was delayed until February to push back bud break and flowering — a clever timeline tweak so ripening stretched into cooler September nights and we could still pick in October.
- Canopy strategy focused on not topping the vines, preserving vine energy for fruit rather than frantic leaf/shoot regrowth.
- After wrestling with sunburned or raisined berries (welcome to climate change’s reality), they added a sorting table to remove compromised fruit before destemming — crucial when you want to do long macerations without nasty, dried-fruit bitterness.
- Giuseppe: “We’ve had 20+ years of learning the vines to know how to adapt.” Translation: experience + humility = better wines.
Winemaking choices mirrored that philosophy: long skin contact to build texture and structure, but a shorter aging timeline — 22 months in big Slavonian casks — to preserve freshness, lift, and the age-worthy backbone Nebbiolo needs.
The tasting — four (plus) Barolos that made my heart do a little cha-cha
We tasted through the 2022s and, friends, each bottle felt like a different chapter from the same family album — some polite, some loud, all authentic.
- Barolo DOCG Albe 2022: Sourced from three high-elevation vineyards (around 380–400m). Giuseppe called it “a Barolo of Barolo” and he’s right — it’s quintessential Barolo: mineral lift, red fruit with savory edges, elegance with structural intent. Classic, but not shy.
- Barolo DOCG Coste di Rose 2022: Imagine being wrapped in a secret cloud of silence and pine-scented air. Sandy soils, central quiet position — this one perfumes the room with red-toned aromatics and a whisper of mint. Elegant now, but don’t be shy to cellar a bottle or two.
- Barolo DOCG Ravera 2022: This one’s the rocker. Ravera sits in a southern “bowl” that traps warmth late in the day — you get ripe power and assertiveness. Giuseppe laughed that he used to call it AC/DC or Led Zeppelin — provocative, unapologetic, direct. Then he added: “more Mick Jagger in a tuxedo.” Fancy and fierce. Love it.
- Barolo DOCG Bricco delle Viole 2022: Highest and oldest vineyard (380–480m), all wind and elevation. It’s the slinky, nervy one — lifted, taut, with that saline, wind-driven energy that screams terroir.
- Barolo DOCG Baudana 2022 (Serralunga west): Two soils meet here — blue marl and tornian — giving breadth, a rush of energy, and a spine of acidity. Broader style, lots of driving momentum.
- Barolo DOCG Cerretta 2022 (Serralunga east): Eastern exposure, yellow Serralunga limestone, iron influence — finesse over fury. Light favors ripening by sun, not heat, and the wine shows a refined, elegant profile with a minerally backbone.
What stuck with me (besides my bottle-stained notebook)
Giuseppe’s approach reads like a masterclass in humility. He’s not chasing fashion; he’s steering ancient vines through modern weather with brains and patience. From delayed pruning and not topping vines, to adding a sorting table and choosing big cask aging, every decision was made to protect Nebbiolo’s voice — to amplify the vineyard, not the winemaker.
And spirit? That family warmth — Also’s leap into farming, half-hippie origin story, five decades of harvests — gives the wines a narrative that’s impossible to bottle but palpable in the glass.
Final sips and the takeaway
If you love wines that are honest, terroir-driven, and made with a farmer’s patience, the Vajra 2022s demand your attention. They show adaptation without losing identity, freshness without sacrificing structure, and a lively, sometimes provocative personality that keeps you coming back for more.
So pour a glass, turn up something with good guitar riffs (for Ravera), or curl up and contemplate minerality (for Cerretta). Either way, Giuseppe and his family remind us that great wine is equal parts soil, weather, and unconditional love. And if that’s not the most romantic thing you’ll hear this week, I don’t know what is.
Many thanks to Studio Cru for arranging this intimate tasting with Giuseppe Vajra.
