Ca’Marcanda is Angelo Gaja’s Bolgheri estate, established in 1996 after a patient ten-year search for the right land in the coastal Maremma zone that had already produced Sassicaia and Ornellaia. The flagship wine of the estate is Ca’Marcanda Bolgheri, a Merlot-dominant blend that draws on the estate’s 110 hectares of vineyards on the mineral-rich marine soils above Castagneto Carducci, and it is produced as the fullest expression of Gaja’s vision for what the Bolgheri zone can achieve with the varieties and philosophy that define his approach in Piedmont: absolute commitment to quality, meticulous vineyard management and the willingness to invest without compromise in the pursuit of wines that speak first and foremost of their terroir. The wine has consistently received outstanding reviews from all five approved publications since its first commercial releases.

The Ca’Marcanda blend is approximately 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc, aged for 18 months in French barriques with a proportion of new oak sufficient to provide structure without masking the fruit. The marine soils of the Ca’Marcanda estate, composed of clay and calcareous marl deposited by the ancient Tyrrhenian sea, impart a distinctive salinity and mineral depth to the wine that sets it apart from the more inland Tuscan super-Tuscans whose character is driven primarily by granite or schist. The 2020 Bolgheri vintage was warm and concentrated, producing wines of excellent ripeness and aromatic generosity, and the Ca’Marcanda’s proportional Merlot emphasis gives the 2020 a softness and approachability that contrasts with the firmer, more Cabernet-driven Bolgheri styles.

The Ca’Marcanda wine is reviewed by all five approved publications and has historically received scores of 94 to 98 points across vintages. Vinous has described the estate’s Bolgheri wines as among the finest produced in the zone, and Wine Spectator has consistently placed Ca’Marcanda among the most compelling expressions of Bolgheri red wine production at the highest quality level. For collectors who follow both Gaja’s Piedmontese work and the Bolgheri zone generally, the 2020 Ca’Marcanda represents an essential acquisition from one of the estate’s most consistently generous vintages.

Deep ruby with a generous and complex nose of dark plum, cassis, chocolate, cedar, tobacco, violet and the characteristic marine mineral salinity of the Ca’Marcanda soils. Full-bodied with ripe, supple tannins, excellent concentration from the 2020 vintage and a long, complex, mineral finish of great distinction and persistence. Best from 2026 through 2045.