Formerly a salesman, Domenico Clerico became the full time winemaker at his family's small domain in 1979. Since then he has had a remarkable career: Clerico is one of the most respected names in Piedmont, and Domenico is renowned as one of the wine world's greatest characters.  One of 'Parker's darlings' during Parker's heyday, he is immensely successful, and now has one of Piedmont's most spectacular new wineries to prove it. Almost painfully intense, enigmatic, spiritual, prone to baffling Zen-like pronoucements  - and even more baffling weighty silences - he is both deeply passionate and fiercely intelligent, committed to excellence and zealously determined to express the full potential of Piemontese grapes and terroirs.  At first he can be intimidating (in the way that fiercely ambitious people can be), but he also has an utterly disarming childlike way of taking great delight in simple things - his own jokes for instance. And you soon figure out what the ambition is all about: all he really wants to do is make the best wine he possibly can and share it with people who deserve it.

Today we are thrilled to offer the Pajana Cru from the famous Ginestra hill in Monforte d'Alba.  Pajana is a textbook example of the Monforte d' Alba, and the wines produced here are known for their concentration and ageability. The vines are between 45-50 years old. A 25-30 day maceration is followed by fermentation in modern rotofermenters.  Élevage is 24 months in French oak barriques (80% new). The wine is classic Clerico - densely structured and crackling with energy, but with a generosity that belies its tremendous ability to age.