2021 Barolo, Bricco delle Viole, G.D. Vajra, Piedmont, Italy

Red • Dry • Full Bodied • Nebbiolo
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Code: 20210600750008016076

Description

Bricco delle Viole is the highest of G.D. Vajra’s vineyards, located closest to the Alps. Thanks to cool nights and long days of sunshine, the Bricco delle Viole wine always has bright aromatics, chiseled tannins and a subtle mineral character. Made from 100% organic Nebbiolo, this is an elegant, classic wine: beautifully layered and ethereal, with plenty of violets and crushed dark red fruit. There are eucalyptus notes and a lovely mineral core to keep the wine lifted and fresh.

  • Colour
    Red
  • Sweetness
    Dry
  • Vintage
    2021
  • Alcohol
    14%
  • Grape
    Nebbiolo
  • Body
    Full Bodied
  • Producer
    G. D. Vajra

Critics reviews

Antonio Galloni
96/100

The 2021 Barolo Bricco delle Viole is a wine of stature and breeding. Vertical in shape, the Bricco delle Viole has so much to offer. Dark-toned fruit, leather, incense, gravel and licorice add an attractive savory edge. The 2021 is an especially somber, potent Bricco delle Viole. I would not dream of touching a bottle anytime soon.

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (January 2025)
Audrey Frick
98/100
The 2021 Barolo Bricco Delle Viole is more refined and complete at this tasting, with more depth than the Coste delle Rose, exhibiting notes of raspberry liqueur, pressed flowers, sweet herbs, and fresh earth. A very pure and well-balanced vintage for this wine, it really shines with exceptional detail, offering even tannins and a balanced, seamless structure throughout. It feels as though this wine will offer the broadest window for enjoyment, thanks to its purity and length, which are quite profound. Drink over the coming decades. In the cellar, it underwent 51 days of submerged cap maceration, followed by 24 months of cask aging before being bottled.
Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com (May 2025)
James Suckling
97/100
Dark cherries, orange rind, dried flowers and cinnamon on the nose. The palate is incisive and medium- to full-bodied with tender fruit, refined and polished tannins and a long, persistent, flavorful finish. Elegant and almost ethereal in essence. Really well crafted and detailed.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (January 2025)
Kerin Okeefe
96/100
Camphor, violet, woodland berry and dark spice are just some of the aromas you’ll find on the fragrant 2021 Bricco delle Viole from G.D. Vajra. It’s smooth and delicious, with flavors of ripe Marasca cherry, licorice, brown pepper and a burst of blood orange on the close. It’s well balanced thanks to taut, refined tannins and fresh acidity.
Kerin Okeefe, KerinOKeefe.com (February 2025)
Michaela Morris
95/100
This high-altitude, late-ripening site was picked between 13-18 October in 2021. Thick-skinned, healthy grapes saw a long, slow fermentation with a lengthy 51-day submerged cap maceration. It is quite a substantial, mouthfilling Bricco delle Viole that requires further ageing to assimilate. Complex aromas of cinnamon, brushwood, violet, mint and cherry blossom emerge with intertwining headiness. There is fleshy richness to the dark berry core, but it is neatly and tightly corseted by the suede-textured tannins. Youthful tension is amplified by signature linear acidity. Hints of liquorice and juniper percolate on the finish.
Michaela Morris, Decanter.com (January 2025)
Monica Larner
97/100
First shows a fragile side, but it eventually rolls onto much greater momentum and focus as it opens in the glass. This is always one of my favorite wines from this excellent producer, and I love it especially thanks to its fine nuances of redcurrant, pressed flower and something a little savory like peat moss. There is a hint of ashy stone or brimstone. All of these little details emerge with terrific sharpness in an epic vintage such as 2021. Fruit comes from a seven-hectare plot at 400 to 480 meters in elevation on Sant'Agata marl soils with marine fossils.
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (January 2025)
Walter Speller
17.5/20
Lustrous, concentrated mid ruby. Deeper and a little richer than the Coste di Rose and multi-layered and complex on the nose. The palate is packed with sour cherry and ripe raspberry on a layer of finely ground tannins. Great balance and depth on the finish but still embryonic.
Walter Speller, JancisRobinson.com (June 2025)

About The Wine

Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo is the grape behind the Barolo and Barbaresco wines and is hardly ever seen outside the confines of Piedmont. It takes its name from "nebbia" which is Italian for fog, a frequent phenomenon in the region. A notoriously pernickety grape, it requires sheltered south-facing sites and performs best on the well-drained calcareous marls to the north and south of Alba in the DOCG zones of Barbaresco and Barolo.
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Piedmont

Piedmont has been the pre-eminent fine wine province of Italy since Roman times. Located in the north-west of the country, it is influenced culturally and climatically by the surrounding Alps and Ligurian Apennines. Its most important fine wine regions are the Langhe, incorporating Barolo and Barbaresco; Monferrato, comprising the wines of Asti and Gavi; and Novara with its Colline Novaresi and Boca.
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G. D. Vajra

Based in Vergne, the highest village in the commune of Barolo, GD Vajra is a relatively young estate. It was established by Aldo Vajra in 1972, when he was just 16. His father had planted vineyards in 1947 but called Aldo “mad” when he followed his childhood dream to become a winemaker. Taking over the family estate in 1968, he became one of the early pioneers of organic farming, and in 1971 the estate became one of the first in Piedmont to be organically certified. Until now, Vajra’s wines have somewhat flown under the radar, but it’s with good reason that the estate has been described as “one of Piedmont’s best kept secrets… with sublime hand-crafted, artisan wines of the very highest level”.
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