When an Italian wine is aged for 42 months in barrel and spends multiple years in bottle before release, there’s a good chance that your mind automatically assumes you’ll be forfeiting triple digits on blockbuster names in Barolo and Barbaresco. Who would ever imagine the tiny hamlet of Lessona is crafting ultra-traditional Nebbiolo with the same (if not more) patience and attention to detail? I’ll tell you who: Wine cognoscenti who have an intimate connection with Italy’s finest and rarest.
These are people who have discovered that Massimo Clerico is one of very few legends to have perfected long-aged, old-school Nebbiolo, and in the exceptional 2010 vintage its elegance and ability to thrive in the cellar reached unprecedented levels. Not only is it one of the rarest and most painstakingly crafted wines in all of Piedmont, its deliciousness at 10 years of age knows no bounds. Don’t get me wrong: When we first offered this two years ago, it was a world-class wine for the ages but now, this decade-old Riserva has organically evolved into a breathtaking masterpiece. We suspected it would keep blossoming, but when the importer recently surprised us with a bottle at Boulevard, a San Franciscan fine-dining staple, our breath escaped us. Clerico’s 2010 Lessona Riserva is an instant and undisputed classic that found a way to transcend its already sky-high levels of intelligence, depth, and elegance—it’s also the very last parcel available. Up to six per person until it’s gone forever!
[PLEASE NOTE: This wine is only available as a pre-offer and will take 2-3 weeks to arrive in our warehouse before it can be shipped.]
We’ve said before that the northern Piedmontese town of Lessona is renowned for the quality and long cellar potential of its best Nebbiolo-based reds, but most wine enthusiasts—even experienced lovers of Barolo and Barbaresco—have never enjoyed a single bottle of Lessona wine. Unfortunately, its reputation is 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 today’s brilliant wine, Massimo Clerico, owns a mere five acres of vines in the village. That translates into him being the third-largest landholder in the appellation!
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 with 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 North into the foothills of the Swiss-Italian Alps. In this breathtaking and mountainous setting, Nebbiolo assumes a striking character—tannins are more finely grained; alcohol remains moderate; fruit is more defined and energetic. These wines require significant patience before they reach their ideal window for consumption. Today’s 2010 Riserva, for instance, possesses the architecture and fine-tuned balance to evolve for another 10+ years.
Massimo Clerico bottled today’s wine 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 bottling. First, “Leria” is a parcel situated directly in front of the family home and cellar door. Next, the “Gaja” vineyard is planted to 48-year-old Nebbiolo, and serves as the backbone and majority fruit source for this wine. Finally, “Putin” was planted in 1984, and only the best Nebbiolo clusters from these vines are put into today’s bottling.
Like everything else at the Clerico property, harvest is done the old-fashioned way. Massimo’s underground cellar dates back to 1740 and it is stocked with equipment from decades past. After hand harvesting, grape clusters are meticulously sorted and de-stemmed. Following fermentation, Massimo’s Lessona Riserva ages in used barriques for 12 months and then 30 more in massive neutral barrels. But we’re not done yet: Massimo tacks on 12 months in stainless steel plus a minimum of 12 months in bottle prior to exiting his cellar.
For every noble Nebbiolo-growing appellation in the northwestern corner of Italy—Barolo, Barbaresco, and here in Lessona—2010 was a superlative vintage. Actually, let’s be honest: 2010 is one for the books in almost every growing region in western Europe! Today’s 2010 Lessona Riserva builds upon the vintage’s already stellar reputation with dark cherry and red currant fruit, fresh tobacco, distant tar and leather notes, plus a finessed violet/dried rose florality on the nose—this final detail is Clerico’s signature. The palate adds white tea tannins, Perigord truffles, and a dusting of shattered stone and white pepper treble notes. This is an absolutely superb expression of Nebbiolo that has reached new heights with two extra years in bottle. I recommend decanting your first bottle for one hour before serving in large Burgundy stems at 60 degrees, and savoring it slowly with a robust, classic dish like osso buco Milanese. Additionally, the wine is even more expressive on day two, which reinforces my expectation that it will continue aging gracefully over the coming decade. This bottle will be one you enjoy revisiting in years to come, and it absolutely deserves a seat in your cellar next to your finest bottles of Bordeaux and Burgundy. Cheers!
