This off-the-beaten path wine made an indelible impression on us last year. It had everything: a fascinating back story; eight years of bottle age; and complex dark fruit and minerality that embarrassed many costlier Barolo and Barbaresco bottlings. For us, it was an instant, appellation-defining classic. In a handful of hours our customers gobbled up all inventory on the West Coast—and for months afterward, they kept emailing to request more! So, you can imagine our glee when we were given a second chance to offer this stunning wine from a frigid cellar in New York. We grabbed every last bottle available and are overjoyed to share them with you. If you love immaculately cellared, mature Barolo from top producers, then prepare to become infatuated with Massimo Clerico’s masterful 2008 Lessona.

We’ve said before that the Northern Piedmont hamlet of Lessona is renowned for the quality and cellar potential of its best Nebbiolo-based reds. Unfortunately, its reputation is also severely limited by its own microscopic size. This is one of the smallest wine-producing villages in Italy—so small, in fact, that the man behind this brilliant wine, Massimo Clerico, owns a mere two hectares of vines in the village. These two hectares make him the third-largest landholder in the appellation! So, needless to say, most wine enthusiasts—even lovers of Barolo and Barbaresco—have never enjoyed a single bottle of Lessona. The Clerico family produces less than 500 cases of wine each year, and less than half of that total production is labeled as Lessona. 

Massimo Clerico’s ancestors have farmed grapes in Lessona since the 1700s and are regarded as founding fathers of the local wine culture. When the Italian government awarded this village DOC status in 1976, Massimo’s father Sandrino was one of the first three growers to label his Nebbiolo under the Lessona DOC appellation. Nebbiolo reigns supreme as Lessona’s dominant variety, just as in Barolo or Barbaresco, but this village’s sandy soils are situated two hours further Northeast into the foothills of the Swiss-Italian alps. In this breathtaking sub-alpine setting, Nebbiolo assumes a strikingly different character—tannins are tighter and more finely grained, alcohol is more moderate, fruit is more defined and energetic. The best of these wines require significant patience before they reach their ideal window for consumption. This bottle, for instance, is firing on all cylinders and in peak form today, but it will continue evolving for another decade or more!

Massimo Clerico produced his 2008 Lessona exclusively from his own grapes. Everything is done in-house—literally—at this tiny family estate. Massimo’s home and surrounding vineyards are situated at approximately 1,000 feet above sea level. The soil here is composed of ancient marine sands over chalky, acidic subsoil. Three small vineyards that encircle the family home come together to produce this wine. First, “Leria” is a parcel situated directly in front of the family home and cellar door. Next, the “Gaja” vineyard is planted to 45 year-old Nebbiolo, and serves as the backbone and majority fruit source for this wine. Finally, “Putin” was planted 1984, and only the best Nebbiolo clusters from these vines are put into this bottling.  

Like everything else at the Clerico property, harvest is done the old-fashioned way. Hand-picked grapes are typically harvested during the second half of October. Massimo’s underground cellar dates back to 1740 and it is stocked with equipment from decades past. After harvest, grape clusters are destemmed before beginning a many weeks-long fermentation. Following fermentation, Massimo’s Lessona ages in medium and large neutral oak barrels for at least three years before bottling. By law, Lessona only needs to spend a year in barrel, but Massimo ages his wines much longer—three to five years is not unusual. For instance, other current Lessona releases in the market are from the 2012 or 2013 vintage while Massimo’s current release is 2010! For every noble Nebbiolo growing appellation in the northwestern corner of Italy—Barolo, Barbaresco, and here in Lessona—2008 is a late blooming but consistently outstanding vintage that is on fire today, but promises to reward for many years to come.

The 2008 Massimo Clerico Lessona clearly displays its maturity and typicity with a concentrated red/crimson center and orange and slightly browning tones at the rim. This is exactly how a properly cellared mature Nebbiolo-based red should appear. From the moment your nose enters the glass, it is clear this is a world-class wine. Waves of dark fruit, berry liqueur, wet tobacco leaf, fine leather, tar, and sweet licorice are cloaked in the unmistakable lifted floral aromas that define the best “Alto Piemonte” Nebbiolo. The palate echoes these qualities, while adding exotic truffle notes, white pepper spice, firm black tea tannins, and a potent dose of mid-palate glycerol that slowly dissolves into a detailed mineral finish. It’s spectacular and even better than when we tasted it last year. This wine will blossom if you decant for one hour at 60 degrees and serve in large Burgundy stems. It is a bottle built for the table, so I encourage you to reward its deep fruit and formidable tannins with a trophy of gorgeously marbled, dry-aged beef. Far be it from us to encourage customers to spend their hard-earned dollars anywhere besides SommSelect.com, but even we have to admit that Pat LaFrieda’s Dry-Aged Tomahawk Steak is a national treasure; everyone should grill one at home just once. It’s a culinary pairing sent from the heavens.