Today’s wine is a permanent member of the SommSelect Hall of Fame. And when I say “today’s wine,” I don’t mean any old bottle of red wine from Massimo Clerico. I mean this 2008 vintage of Clerico’s singular, exquisite Lessona. Since the very first time we pulled the cork on this beauty, it has become a Nebbiolo reference point for my team and a standard by which others are judged.
Its epic dark fruit, haunting floral aromas, nine+ years of age, compelling backstory, and modest price tag—one that mocks many costlier Barolos and Barbarescos—offers everything I want from this grape and region. We’re ecstatic about having one last chance to share it with you. As is often the case with a mature and mint-condition treasure like this, inventory is extremely limited. So, I politely—but no less forcefully—urge you to jump on it quickly! This wine will ship from our warehouse the week of March 12 and due to limited availability, we can only offer a maximum of 6 bottles per customer until we sell out.
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 microscopic size. This is one of the smallest wine-producing villages in Italy—so small, in fact, that the man behind today’s brilliant wine, Massimo Clerico, owns a mere two hectares of vines in the village—making 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 with the Lessona DOC.
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 designation. 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 toward the foothills of the Swiss-Italian alps. In this sub-alpine setting, Nebbiolo assumes a strikingly different character—tannins are more finely grained, alcohol is more moderate, fruit is more delicate. The best of these wines require significant patience before they reach their ideal window for consumption. Today’s bottle, for instance, is firing on all cylinders and in peak form today, but it will continue evolving for another decade or more!
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. Other current Lessona releases in the market are from the 2014 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.
Massimo Clerico’s 2008 Lessona shows its years of wisdom and Piedmontese Nebbiolo breed with a deep red/crimson center and slight orange/brown tones on the rim. This is a regal, deeply impressive wine with dark cherry, black currant, cassis, wet and cured tobacco, leather, and a delicate veil of floral notes. On your palate, this bottle ups the ante with perfectly chiseled tannins, a powerful dark fruit/truffle/mineral mid-palate and a finish that just won’t quit. This is a truly epic wine that benefits from a 30-minute decanting prior to service at 60 degrees in large Burgundy stems. Here in Napa, we’ve recently been bombarded with a wave of bone-0chilling winter weather. I’ve taken it as an invitation to revisit my favorite slow-cooked meat dishes. Trust me that this Italian pot roast (a.k.a. stinco) was a brilliant companion to today’s wine. Cheers!
