1996 Gaja Costa Russi, Langhe-Barbaresco, Piedmont, Bottle (750ml)

VM94 (Gaja Costa Russi Red) The 1996 Costa Russi is sensual, dark and voluptuous, within the context of a vintage that yielded big, powerful wines. Black cherry, smoke, iron, graphite and dark spices infuse this rich, textured wine. Like all of these 1996s, the Costa Russi is quite virile and masculine in style, even though it has more curvy contours, greater sensuality than the other wines in the range. The first signs of tertiary complexity have begun to develop. Scents of sweet tobacco, macerated cherry, menthol, licorice, dried herbs and smoke add nuance throughout. Costa Russi is the most forward of Gaja's four wines from Barbaresco, but has plenty of life ahead.