Domenico Clerico Barolo 2011
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Barolo is a new wine to grace the exciting portfolio of Domenico Clerico. Basically 90% of the fruit is soured from the Ginestra vineyard and the rest is assembled from three other sites. The 2011 vintage represents the first time this particular blend was made and you will remember the excellent Barolo Ciabot Mentin Ginestra released in past years. This wine is a close cousin. The bouquet is linear and direct with amazing precision. It shows dark fruit tendencies with pretty layers of spice and dark tobacco at its core. It spots a full body, tight tannins and balanced acidity. Domenico Clerico characterizes this vintage as one that can be consumed immediately, and the 2012 vintage as one to put away in your cellar.
-
James Suckling
Soft and silky with a beautiful cedar, light meat and spice character. Full body, lovely tannins and a juicy, savory finish. Delicious now but better in 2018.
-
Wine Spectator
Firm and lean, with a menthol edge to the cherry fruit that transforms into notes of tobacco and leather on the chewy finish. Sinewy, but has intensity and fine length. Best from 2018 through 2030.
Other Vintages
2019-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator - Decanter
-
James
Suckling
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
-
Robert
Parker
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
Farming Practices: No systemic plant protection products (products which act by systemic transport – through the sap of the plant) are used. Sulfur- and copper-based products are the most prevalent. No herbicides are used (the soil is tilled). When needed, only organic fertilizer (manure) is used. There is little use of fertilizers in order to keep the grape production per vine low. Very careful use of SO2 in the wines.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.