The story goes that the late, great Domenico Clerico, back in 1981, created the first Arte quite by mistake, accidentally racking a barrel of Barbera into a barrel of Nebbiolo. But that story seemed to change every time he told it.  He also told me once, while pontificating on the subject of blending wine, that Arte was 100% volitionary, a desire to show just how synergistic these two grapes could be together, especially when aged in the small French oak barrels that were so novel in the Langhe at the time.  I personally think it was in imitation of his good friend and winemaking mentor Giorgio Rivetti who was bottling his own version of these two grapes (and, depending on who you ask, a few others as well) called ‘Pin.’  Or did Rivetti create Pin because of Domenico’s Arte?  I’ve heard that too.  You could never tell with those two Merry Pranksters who was telling the truth and who was just gaslighting.  In any event, the terrific 2021 Clerico Arte celebrates 40 years as one of the Langhe’s most intriguing and unique wines.  Despite where you land in the Modernist versus Traditionalist argument, one cannot deny that Arte, in its guise as the first ‘Super Piemontese’ red, was truly a dynamic trendsetter and remains as savory, seamless and delicious as it was when it was first created.  Still aged in 225-liter barriques, Clerico’s successor, winemaker Oscar Arrivabene, has gradually scaled back the percentage of barrels that are new and tweaked the percentages of each grape variety in order to achieve a greater degree of finesse and improve the balance in these days of warmer harvests.  What was once 90% Nebbiolo is now only 60 in order to maximize the fresh acidity and fruity drive of Barbera.  What remains constant, though, is that the Nebbiolo always comes from a dedicated one-hectare parcel in the Ginestra MGA near the old Clerico winery and that the Barbera is always chosen from the best fruit harvested in any given vintage.  Arte also remains a powerhouse wine that wears its nearly 15% alcohol effortlessly while, at the same time, preserving so much of the aromatic complexity and subtlety that Nebbiolo provides.  The 2021 Arte comes from an amazing harvest and drinks beautifully with plenty of nicely ripened dark, dusky black and purple plum fruit, a dash of smoky, almost curry-like spice that really does, at once, evoke the characters of both these grapes. While I would be hard-pressed to call it elegant, it is quite silky and smooth on the palate and not at all ponderous or awkward, even in its youth.  I think the balance is well-neigh perfect!  Drink tonight with richer pasta or meat preparations or hold it in the cellar for up to another decade.  Of the roughly 500 cases produced, I got just a couple….

Wine Advocate: A blend of 60% Nebbiolo and 40% Barbera, the Domenico Clerico 2021 Langhe Arte offers a hybrid of flavors from the playlist of both Piedmont native grapes. Aged in new and neutral oak, the wine has the wild, delicate aromas of Nebbiolo along with the thicker fiber and black fruit aromas that come with Barbera. There is some sweet spice on the close, and the wine concludes with a strong 15% alcohol content. You get a lot of food-pairing versatility with this wine. This is a 6,000-bottle release. 93 points