A family estate at the top of Barolo
The people
G.D. Vajra is based in Vergne, the highest village in the commune of Barolo. Aldo Vajra built the estate while working as a schoolteacher and committed the family vineyards to organic farming in 1971.
Three of his children, Giuseppe, Francesca and Isidoro, now run the winery. Nebbiolo forms the spine of the range, joined by Barbera, Dolcetto and Moscato Bianco.
Vergne and the estate's hillside vineyards
The place
G.D. Vajra is based in the upper reaches of the Barolo area. Its vineyards occupy different hillside sites. For Barolo Albe, the estate brings together high-elevation vineyards with different exposures to the sun.
The named wine gives you a more precise picture than the winery's address alone. Read the vineyard description alongside the grape and the way the wine is made when comparing the estate's Langhe Nebbiolo and Barolo.
From young Nebbiolo to Barolo
The range
Claré J.C. is a young, unoaked Langhe Nebbiolo made in a deliberately lighter style. Barolo Albe brings together fruit from several hillside vineyards and spends longer ageing in oak. Moscato d'Asti offers a separate, lightly sparkling and low-alcohol side of the estate.
Dolcetto and Barbera complete the picture, but Nebbiolo remains the best thread to follow through the range.
Begin with Claré J.C.
First bottle
Claré J.C. explores a different side of Nebbiolo from a firmly structured Barolo. The estate's 2024 fact sheet describes a gently off-dry finish, meaning a little sweetness, and a light carbonic prickle. That youthful freshness is part of the intended style.
Compare it with Barolo Albe to notice how the same grape changes with the wine. Albe spends longer on its skins and in oak, while Claré J.C. is bottled after a short stay in steel. Check the harvest year on each bottle so you can see how much age separates the two wines.