No trip to Bolgheri is complete without a visit to Ca’ Marcanda Winery. The wine legend - Angelo Gaja of GAJA Winery in Piedmont, Italy – at first sight, fell in love with an estate in Bolgheri and was determined to acquire the winery and apply his knowledge to a region he was eager to fully discover. It took 18 challenging meetings with the original owner to settle and finally purchase the winery. Post-sale, the winery was given the name Ca’ Marcanda translating to ‘the house of endless negotiations.’

Ca’ Marcanda winery was started in 1996 and then began a new adventure for the Gaja family. It took six years for the architect Giovanni Bo to complete the new state-of-the-art underground winery. International grape varieties were planted, such as: cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot and syrah. Bolgheri is a young appellation, known for its international grape varieties.

Giovanni Gaja, Angelo Gaja’s youngest child, representing the 6th generation involved in the family business, walked us through the vineyards. The attention to detail is astonishing. Everything was designed so that the land blends with the winery facility and vice versa. The estate is 296 acres (120 hectares) of vines planted with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. According to Giovanni: “We also have other varieties in smaller amounts, such as Syrah, Sangiovese, Vermentino and Viognier.”

The soil is composed of terre brune (mostly loam and clay), giving the wine minerality and structured tannins, and terre bianche (predominantly clay and limestone), producing fuller bodied wines with great aging potential.