What to Find out about Timorasso, Piedmont’s White Barolo

Piedmont’s legendary purple wines, notably Barolo and Barbaresco, have lengthy secured their standing as a few of the world’s most iconic, however the area’s undulating hills additionally lay declare to one in every of Italy’s nice white wines: Timorasso. 

Tucked away within the southeastern nook of Piedmont, the Colli Tortonesi Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) sits within the shadow of extra well-known names like Langhe, Asti, and Monferrato. It’s right here that Timorasso’s favor has come and gone all through centuries, solely to expertise a renaissance within the late twentieth century due to the indefatigable efforts of native winemaker Walter Massa. 

“The whole lot began with Walter,” says Ernest Ifkovitz, founding father of Italian wine importer PortoVino.

“It’s the counterpoint to Nebbiolo,” says Ifkovitz about Timorasso. It’s a view shared by many within the wine world. 

Dubbed “White Barolo” as a consequence of its distinctive ageing potential, Timorasso is every thing one may need in a wine — extremely expressive, meals pleasant, and lengthy lived. 

The Historical past of Timorasso

Like all of the greats, Timorasso has a narrative to inform. An historical grape of unsure parentage, it hails from the province of Alessandria, particularly in Comune di Tortona and the Colli Tortonesi space of Piedmont. The world is wealthy in gastronomic heritage, an ideal place to set the scene.  

Timorasso’s historical past dates to not less than the 14th century, when the primary references to the grape are thought of to seem, which ranks it among the many oldest varieties in Piedmont. 

“For hundreds of years, it was thought of Piedmont’s most essential white grape when it comes to winery floor and manufacturing,” says Marco Volpi, fifth-generation winemaker at Cantine Volpi.

However only some many years in the past, Timorasso flirted with extinction. With late and sometimes uneven ripening, low yields, and excessive susceptibility to illness stress, Timorasso was by no means the simplest selection to work with, however after considerations following the phylloxera outbreak within the late nineteenth century, it was a fair much less widespread alternative for replanting.

“After World Conflict II, as a consequence of rural depopulation and the financial increase, planting declined drastically,” says Volpi. “By the late twentieth century, the grape was almost forgotten, with lower than three hectares [around 7.5 acres] of vineyards left.” 

Timorasso was largely relegated to desk grape standing and sometimes utilized in blends. As an alternative, growers favored varieties like Barbera and Cortese. Their larger and extra dependable yields in addition to Cortese’s resilience meant steadier revenue in an trade topic to nature’s whims. 

On the time, the area was largely a producer of bulk wines, and nobody was terribly excited by difficult the established order. A minimum of, not till fifth-generation grower Walter Massa determined to take a brand new method. 

Taken with releasing his personal wine relatively than promoting bulk, Massa started bottling Barbera and Cortese. By the late Nineteen Eighties, he opted to experiment with the tiny pocket of Timorasso in his household vineyards. 

Colli Tortonesi’s soils encompass calcareous clay and limestone, and its larger elevation (between 820–2,130 ft) made Massa suppose white wines may carry out nicely right here. The tasty desk grape held potential. 

“Principally, he had a quorum of vineyards to make a 50-hectoliter [roughly 13,000 gallon] tank,” says Ifkovitz. “He tasted it and it simply wasn’t good. All of his hopes had been dashed.” 

However like all nice winemakers, Walter Massa is one thing of an artist. 

“He waited two years, then it completely modified,” says Ifkovitz. “All of the complexity got here out.”

When Massa began, there was a scant quantity of Timorasso left in Piedmont. A lot of his friends thought backing Timorasso was insanity. However as Massa continued his campaign, replanting parcels with Timorasso and crafting his wines, the Tortonesi winemakers started to see he was on to one thing. Many winemakers went to Massa for cuttings. 

“His first official bottlings within the early Nineties sparked pleasure and impressed others, like Andrea Mutti and Paolo Poggio, to comply with his lead,” says Volpi. “By the 2000s, extra producers joined and the motion gained momentum. My father Carlo planted our first Timorasso winery in 2003.”

Right now, a brand new era of winemakers has embraced Timorasso. Tortona’s hillsides boast upwards of 740 acres, up from round 74 in 2010. And whereas it’s a acknowledged subzone of the Colli Tortonesi DOC, the native consortium of winemakers has been lobbying for separate DOC standing for Derthona, so-called after the Roman identify for Tortona. 

“Timorasso is on the very starting of what could possibly be a good looking story of restoration of an deserted selection that led to the valorization of a complete territory,” says Volpi. 

Frankly, the long run has by no means regarded higher for Piedmont’s most noble white grape.

The traits of Timorasso wine

In youth, Timorasso is contemporary and floral. There’s stone, citrus, and tropical fruits laced with honey. They’re high-acid wines with a distinguished mineral spine. 

“The Colli Tortonesi has a really explicit mixture of local weather and geology,” says Volpi of the area’s terroir. “Chilly winters, regular rainfall, and excessive temperature swings throughout grape ripening assist Timorasso develop each richness and freshness. The soils, largely historical marine deposits and calcareous marl, present glorious construction and minerality.”

Most of the area’s prime producers age their Timorassos on the lees — a mode pioneered by Massa — which provides the wines a creaminess and additional enhances their complexity. 

The grape’s pure excessive acidity makes it a fabulously versatile, food-friendly wine when it’s time to take a seat all the way down to dinner. 

“It really works superbly with Piedmontese specialties corresponding to truffle-based dishes, aged cheeses like Montebore, or hearty cured meats corresponding to Salame Nobile del Giarolo,” says Volpi. “It additionally shines with seafood, spicy meals, creamy risottos, and roasted white meats, making it a flexible companion on the desk. Between all the above, my favourite is the pairing with a pleasant Montebore cheese — an area cheese obtained by mixing three completely different milks: cow, sheep, and goat.”

Timorasso’s sobriquet “White Barolo” is just not for nothing. Not solely are the wines terrifically advantageous, providing a sensory expertise even essentially the most hard-line red-wine drinkers will recognize, however Timorasso’s ageing potential means it begins really coming into its personal after three or 4 years. Age brings spice, almond, honey, and a petroleum notice not in contrast to Riesling, and the very best vintages can proceed maturing for nicely over a decade. 

Bottles to Strive

Vigneti Massa Colli Tortonesi Timorasso Derthona

The one which began all of it, by the legendary Massa himself. It presents ripe mandarin, stone fruits, lemon blossom, acacia, and honey aromas, with superbly built-in acidity on the palate. One of many longest-lived examples on the market, Massa’s Derthona requires a number of years of ageing earlier than uncorking. 

La Colombera Colli Tortonesi Timorasso Derthona “Il Montino”

Led by Elisa Semino, who works carefully together with her father and brother, La Colombera bottles a few of the loveliest Timorassos accessible. Il Montino is a single-vineyard expression crafted from organically farmed grapes grown at 820-feet above sea stage. Splendidly expressive, with ample peach, white flowers, and herbs. 

Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Colli Tortonesi Timorasso Derthona

The storied Barolo producer Borgogno & Figli farms round 7.5 acres of Timorasso in Monleale. It’s all citrus and spice, peach and pear, adopted by white tree blossoms, chamomile, honey, and a contact of marzipan. Age teases out wealthy honey notes and a contact of nuttiness — it’s positively one which’s price ready for.

Cantine Volpi Colli Tortonesi Timorasso Derthona “La Zerba”

“The world of La Zerba hill is dominated by clay-rich soils and calcareous marl from the Tortonian period, the identical geological formation present in Barolo (marne di Sant’Agata Fossili); these historical marine sediments give our Timorasso its signature mineral edge and freshness but in addition depth, and capability to age gracefully,” says Volpi. La Zerba opens with enticing peach, yellow plum, and melon layered over white flowers and a touch of herbs. Cantine Volpi’s take spends time ageing in oak to yield a rounder, marvelously lush, exceptionally long-lived expression of Timorasso.

Ezio Poggio Archetipo Timorasso Colli Tortonesi Terre di Libarna 

“He’s geographically an outlier,” says Ifkovitz of Ezio Poggio. The only real producer in Val Borbera, Ezio Poggio makes Timorasso from grapes grown at over 1,969 ft in elevation. The extra excessive circumstances yield a leaner, barely extra savory Timorasso that’s dominated by ripe citrus, contemporary florals, lemongrass, and flint.