Massimo Clerico - Lessona Reserva, Piemonte, Italy (2015)

TASTING NOTES

Dried flowers, forest floor and wild strawberry aroma and balsamic. Fine grained, resolved tannins, silky texture and lots of leathery savoury notes. A beautiful wine. 

In the foothills of the Swiss-Italian Alps are a string of mostly tiny wine appellations including Valtellina, Ghemme, Gattinara, and, the rarest of them all, Lessona.

In this breathtaking sub-alpine setting, nebbiolo assumes a strikingly different character than it does further south — tannins are tighter and more finely grained, alcohol is more moderate, fruit is more defined and energetic. Compared to the power of the best Barolo's, great Nebbiolo from Alto-Piedmont is more floral and elegant.

If you want to experience this style of nebbiolo, the wines of Massimo Clerico are the perfect introduction. Massimo is a true artisan - a one man farmer/winemaker who is working the same couple of hectares in Lessona that his family has been working for generations. Everything in the vineyard and the cellar is done by hand and done the old fashioned way.

To qualify as Lessona Riserva, the wine must be aged a total of 46 months before commercial release with a minimum of 30 months of the aging process occurring in barrel. Massimo ages his best wines much longer, in this case 9 years or 108 months!