Labels are weird. I mean, we don't mean to get all "Breakfast Club" on you, and tell you nerds are athletes, princesses are basketcases...But when people separate Barolo makers into "modernists" and "classicists," at some point we're like: how about we talk about who's "great?" Domenico Clerico, one of the famed "modernists," is certainly that and this 2017 is stunningly elegant. There's power and structure, but it's quiet -- this is Tilda Swinton in a tux, and not The Rock. Strawberry, dark raspberry, wet earth, a mineral core, and sophistication throughout. One mag called it "simply dazzling," and gave it a 96; labels may be stupid when it comes to Things of Beauty, but they're certainly not far off here!
