2024 G.D. Vajra, Langhe Riesling DOC, Pétracine, Piemonte, Italy.
One of my top 10 Italian wines and one of my favorite dry Rieslings, the G.D. Vajra Langhe Riesling is a beautifully aromatic and stylish effort with racy acidity and complex layers of mineral driven and stony lime citrus, white peach, crisp green apple and earthy muskmelon fruits on the lighter framed steely palate along with hints of white blossoms, mango, verbena, chamomile and bitter almond accents. As the 2024 version open up, loads of chalk, saline, flinty spice and oyster shell come into focus and a subtle depth of texture develops, making this wine very much complete and rewarding, while retaining a nice intensity and tension, which I crave in Riesling. Winemaker Giuseppe Vaira’s dad Aldo, was the original Riesling guy in the Langhe and sourced cuttings from some pedigreed sites, including Ostertag and Deiss in Alsace, along with an old clone from the Rheingau, close to where they believe the grape was born. The Vajra Riesling vines, which sadly have been producing way too small of yields in recent vintages, are planted at high elevation on sandy soils with the limestone marl of the Barolo zone and is one of the area’s cooler places, originally when planted thought to be too cold for Nebbiolo. Vajra is now one of the stars of the Barolo region and I highly recommend their top Cru offerings, especially their signature Bricco Delle Viole and the Ravera, but don’t miss out f this one if you get a chance to grab it.
The G.D. Vajra “Pétracine” Riesling, as I have mentioned, is an exotic treat from Italy’s Piemonte region and a very unique expression of this varietal, and has been a huge hit in the Langhe, with many more top producers now doing dry Rieslings of their own, or either planting some too. Now it is a full DOC Langhe offering and you can find a range of interesting versions, but still maintain a special love for the Vajra Riesling. As I’ve said before, this nicely complex Riesling subtly shows it’s nervy acidity, this wine isn’t as electric as it’s German cousins or as dense as some of it’s French Alsatian brothers, but it certainly deserves some attention. I’ve been drinking the Vajra Langhe Riesling since the 2010 vintage was released in the States, and while obviously their Barolo is the first focus of the winery, they have a cult following for this wine. Being a Riesling enthusiast, I have particularly high standards when it comes to this grape, and Vajra’s always seems to beat even my expectations, with this 2024, not an easy year, being the one of the loveliest efforts in a while. Again Vajra hasn’t had this Riesling in America in a few years, so it was a thrill to see it at the most recent Slow Wine show and tasting event in San Francisco on March 2, 2026. For the Riesling Vajra uses all organic grapes, which saw a gentle slow pressing and cool fermentation and aging in exclusively stainless steel with no malo-lactic and just a couple of moths of the lees before bottling to keep things crystalline and fresh, as seen here! Not inexpensive, the Vajra Riesling is still good value for the money.
($45 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive