Some time ago I wrote about lesser-known grape varieties from Italy’s Piedmont such as
Grignolino,
Quagliano and
Nascetta. Today, a grape that’s perhaps more obscure than all:
Timorasso. There’s 50 ha left of this grape, which until recently was on the verge of extinction, replaced as it was by the more productive and hassle-free Cortese di Gavi.
It’s a vintner named Walter Massa who struggled to keep Timorasso going, and there is now a minor renaissance underway, in the
Colli Tortonesi DOC in Piedmont’s south-eastern corner, bordering with Liguria and Lombardy.
Gavi wines acquired international fame several centuries ago for their richness of flavour and standing power (two characteristics that escape modern Gavis, based on Cortese). The key to success was
Timorasso, a powerful, late-ripening grape capable of astounding concentration and depth. We’re talking about a white wine that was often harnessed to red wine use at the table: fowl, rabbit, even game are staples in this area.
I bought this bottle of
Walter Massa Derthona Timorasso Costa del Vento 2005 in 2007, but Timorasso is intended for ageing and at five years this is just beginning to show its breed. Initially a little subdued and unaromatic, honeyed, slightly evolved, it later develops plenty of tropical fruit flavours and a strong scent of dark honey. It carries its whopping 14.5% alc. rather well. The texture is rich suggesting oak ageing (Julia Harding also
noticed this, though this wine sees no oak at all!), but this is really not just another oaky Chardonnay: the flavours are more complex and distinctive, the whole is truly engaging, and engagingly vivacious (the combination of tropical fruit and high acidity is a hallmark of Timorasso). Development over two days of drinking has been very good, and this wine will improve further.
