2018 Vigneti Massa Derthona Timorasso DOC

Build in richness, more golden colour. Delicious, saline minerality, excellent acid profile, build in phenolics and carry through to a cleansing silvery line of bitterness + apricot kernel. Excellent line and length. Lovely ripe fresh apricot. A little spice and ginger. Tiny bit of creamy autolysis. Harmony, with a rounder mid-palate compared to the Picolo Derthona. Beautifully poised. A lot of sophistication here. Excellent élévage and development. Despite notes suggesting 48 hours of skin contact the wine, there is just a little phenolic, yet the texture remains super fine and dances across your palate with a refreshing acidity.

There have been five generations of the Massa family working in the steep hills just east of Tortona to keep the flame of the Timorasso grape alight. Walter Massa is the saviour of this variety that was once the prime grape in Gavi, before the less troublesome Cortese took over. They now grow the last few hectares of Timorasso in the world with minimal intervention, wild yeasts and no chemicals.

Under the Derthona name of the label lies the words, “Un territorio, un vino, un vitigno”, which means “One terroir, one wine, one vine”. If it wasn’t for the tenacity and determination of Walter Massa, the owner of Vigneti Massa, who clearly believed in the tremendous potential of this grape variety, then we might not taste this exemplary grape today.

A few decades ago, when Walter Massa took over his family’s wine production, the Timorasso grape was nearing extinction. He began producing Timorasso pomace for a well-known grappa producer and this provided the capital necessary for extensive experimentation with the varietal.

This talented grape is remarkably rare, having been long undervalued in a region well known for its Barolos and Barbarescos. Massa never stopped believing in the potential of this grape, which grows on the sunny southeastern Piemontese hills of Tortona, east of Alessandria and bordering Emilia-Romagna.

The Massa Estate stands on an overall area of 30 hectares of which 18 are vineyard and 12 occupied by orchards. The agronomist and enologist is Walter Massa, who is assisted by his sister Paola and his cousin Franco, who deals with the orchards.