2009 Domenico Clerico Single Vineyard Barolo Collection

Modernists in Barolo:  93-95pt Domenico Clerico Single-Vineyard Cru Collection

Up until the mid-1980s, Barolo — the acknowledged King of Italy’s red wines — was something of a crapshoot. In difficult vintages, late-maturing Nebbiolo failed to fully ripen, making for rustic, acidic wines, further dried out by extended aging in old puncheons. When we first began drinking Barolos in the late 1970s, three bottles out of five were brick-ish in color, dried out, and prematurely oxidized.

In the 1980s, a group of maverick winegrowers began experimenting with a different approach for the farming and making of Barolo. Led by the likes of Elio Altare, Domenico Clerico, Paolo Scavino, Angelo Gaja, and Roberto Voerzio, this “Modernist” school looked to Bordeaux and to the New World for their vineyard management and cellar protocol.

In the vineyards, Domenico Clerico led the charge, dropping fruit and pulling leaves, pushing the envelope on maturity. At harvest, natural sugars were higher, while acids were softer and rounder. In the cellar, Altare, Clerico, and Scavino began experimenting with warm fermentations of short duration, mostly conducted in small, new roto-fermenters that further softened the finished wine.

The Barolos released by the Modernists in the 1980s and ‘90s changed the face of the appellation. The wines were not only darker in color, but also more plump and pliant. Naysayers claimed that the new school denuded Barolo of a sense of place. But critics — led by Robert Parker, Jr., and Stephen Tanzer — applauded the new approach, publishing rave reviews that sent collectors and importers scrambling across the globe.

In a 2009 growing season that ranked among the hottest of the last two decades, even as the vineyard crew dropped fruit to magnify maturity, Clerico opted not to pull leaves, thus protecting his Nebbiolo clusters from the Piedmont sun. That decision on the steep clay and limestone hillsides of the Ciabot Mentin and Pajana vineyards in Monforte d’Alba gave birth to two of the richest, most marvelously chiseled Barolos of Clerico’s storied career.

The 2009 Domenico Clerico Barolo Ciabot Mentin is brilliant ruby to the rim, infused with a complex mix of black cherry, black raspberry, and mocha, sprinkled with classic pine needles. Rich, complex, and beautifully delineated on the attack, filled with crushed-red-fruit preserves. Despite the natural opulence of this warm vintage, the finish remains firm, vibrant, and high-toned.  Drink now — if you’re uncontrollably impatient — or do as Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate suggests and lay this monumental Barolo down until sometime in the late 2020s.

The 2009 Domenico Clerico Barolo Pajana is darker ruby in color, infused with a sweet mix of black cherry and wild strawberries, touched with mint and sweet herbs. Rich, more forward, and beautifully polished, finely honed and juicy, the 2009 “Pajana” is Domenico Clerico at his best — a magnificent Barolo that is drinking beautifully on release but, as The Wine Advocate suggests, will not hit full stride until the mid-2020s.

A slew of 93+ to 95-point reviews from Parker, Tanzer, and Suckling.  $100/bottle on release.  Offered this morning ONLY in 4-pack collections for just $200 — 50% off  — each bottle drawn directly from the cool limestone cellars in Monforte d’Alba.