Clerico Domenico

Domenico Clerico’s name, at least for wine lovers of my generation, brings light to a time when anything seemed possible and no obstacle was insurmountable. It’s an era punctuated by wines that were sometimes over the top – ones which I might not taste with the same enthusiasm today – but without which today’s Langa simply wouldn’t exist.
Domenico’s then is a fundamental contribution and is today reimagined by the talented Oscar Arrivabene, who has been able to find new balance and a more modulated expression that highlight this estate’s Barolo wines as the most interesting on the Monforte d’Alba scene. The decision to include the MGAs of origin on labels is a positive one, and it’s worth noting another decision to enter Briccotto, Ciabot Mentin, Pajana, and Percristina in the Vigna register, which should come into use from the 2024 vintage.

• Additional notes
• First vintage bottled: 1978
• Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d’Alba Aeroplanservaj is from Teodoro MGA as of the 2020 vintage, having previously been made from MGAs Badarina and Baudana, both as blends and single-vineyard wines. Literally ‘wild airplane’, the name is related to the nickname by which Domenico Clerico was jokingly called by his father as a boy.
• The Barolo del Comune di Monforte d’Alba comes from the Ginestra and Mosconi MGAs.
• Barolo Pajana, Ciabot Mentin, and Percristina included their MGA indications on labels from the 2017 vintage onwards (Ginestra for the first two and Mosconi for the third).
• Barolo Bussia Briccotto returns to the cru roster with the 2020 vintage. Released in 1978 as Barolo Vigna Briccotto della Bussia, it was later also marketed as Briccotto Bussia or simply Briccotto without any other MGA indication. In some vintages (2008, 2009, 2010) it was only produced in magnum format.