Domenico
Clerico
Domenico Clerico’s small estate is situated in
Monforte d’Alba, right in the heart of Barolo.
Domenico commenced production in 1979, following a brief
engagement in the olive oil business. He possesses holdings
in some of Monforte d’Alba’s most esteemed
crus, including Ginestra, Pajanà, and Mosconi,
concentrating his efforts on single-vineyard expressions.
Interestingly, like many of the modernist persuasion,
Clerico began in traditional mode, utilizing the hallmark
vessels of the traditionalists—Slavonian oak casks—as
they were readily available to him. The debut vintage of Barolo Pajanà (1990) represented
Clerico’s first expression of a 100-percent barrique-aged
Barolo. At the time of Pajanà’s release,
he was aging Ciabot Mentin Ginestra—the house flagship—wholly
in 700-liter tonneaux, a medium he had begun to
use for a portion of Ginestra’s aging in the 1985
vintage.
While he did transition to 100% barrique aging for his
Barolosin vintages subsequent to 1990, he was motivated
to do so for pragmatic rather than stylistic reasons.
In essence, one of the middle grounds between cask and
barrique—tonneaux —proved to be too
high-maintenance. While his initial barrique regimen
for Barolos featured equal proportions of new and used
French barrels, for a brief period of time, Clerico employed
new barrique exclusively for all of his Barolos. He soon
moderated these absolute tendencies, with new barrels
constituting between 35 and 40 percent of his cooperage.
At present, Arte—Piemonte’s second Nebbiolo-Barbera
blend— is the only wine in Clerico’s portfolio
that is aged exclusively in new barrique. But Clerico
hasn’t just been working out his involvement with
barrique. In fact, his work with maceration periods has
been far more dramatic than his experimentation with
barrique. In 1993, Clerico’s maceration periods
ranged from five to eight days. In 2006, that period
averaged 18, with a new addition to the Barolo portfolio
(a 2006 from purchased fruit) receiving 23 days of maceration.
So where does that place Clerico? At both extremes—and
handling them with finesse and passion.
Thus, while Domenico Clerico is often positioned in
Piemonte’s modernist school (along with Sandrone,
Scavino, and Voerzio), his dynamic evolution and current
practices no longer warrant such absolute classification.
In fact, to regard him as modernist is to blatantly ignore
the dynamic evolution that he has undergone over the
years, manifested in a shifting stylistic spectrum and
a constant probing for the ideal aesthetic. Rooted at
the core of Clerico’s winemaking philosophy is
his staunch conviction that the quality of the vines
is the sole factor determining a wine’s potential.
Clerico regards production techniques as mere tools of
the trade as opposed to intrinsic components of the wine
itself. Appropriately enough, the producer champions
the virtues of terroir by focusing on single-vineyard
bottlings that express the merits of distinct sites.
Perhaps there’s no better testament to Clerico’s
meticulous approach to viticulture than the sign that
directs vintners to his cellar door—Domenico Clerico,
Viticoltore (i.e., Domenico Clerico, Vinegrower).
Clerico’s efforts in the vineyard are tenacious,
based on a relentless pursuit of quality. His average
yields, in fact, are among the lowest in the region.
The estate’s current portfolio features cru Barolos,
including Ciabot Mentin Ginestra, Pajanà, and
Percristina; a Barolo cuvée; Dolcetto and Barbera
bottlings; and Piemonte’s second Nebbiolo-Barbera
blend, Arte.
In 2006, Clerico vinified a Barolo from purchased fruit;
it has received his longest maceration period to date.
While he will always be a Barolo Boy, Clerico has matured
quite a bit since that revolutionary period in the ’80s,
when himself and the other members of Barolo’s
backstreet vignerons brandished a new conception of Barolo.
Yes, he walked away from tradition, but he’s been
working his way back, carefully and artfully merging
seemingly diametrically opposed approaches.
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