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Most people immediately think of Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera and mainly see red when they think of Piedmont. But at the very edge of Piedmont, in the municipality of Tortona, between Alessandria and Voghera, lie the Colli Tortonesi. In the DOC area of the same name, the Timorasso grape, among others, is also cultivated among a lot of Barbera.

For many young Tortonesi winegrowers, a return to the Timorasso is the only right way to re-evaluate their rural roots and draw identity and prosperity from them, but also to preserve biodiversity. They owe the initial spark to one man in particular: Walter Massa, winemaker and oenologist. With competence, passion and determination, they are now revitalising old traditions, such as the cultivation of this indigenous grape variety, and giving us lovers a golden nectar.

Walter Massa in his vineyard (Photo: Katrin Walter)

500 years revolve around the Timorasso

The first evidence of white wine from the Colli Tortonesi goes back to Sante Lancerio in the 15th century. He was the cellar master of Pope Paul III and author of treatises on the organoleptic characteristics of various wines, their durability and suitability for food pairing. These evaluations are now considered Italy's first oenological literature.

In the 18th century, 23,000 hectolitres of Timorasso were produced in the Colli Tortonesi and sold openly and mainly to Switzerland and Germany as "Torbolino", as must that was dense and dark after 12 to 24 hours of fermentation. There it was processed, filtered and later returned to Italy under exotic names without any indication of grape variety or origin.

The Timorasso vineyards were once mainly found in the upper Val Curone, Val Grue and Val Borbera. Before phylloxera, they also existed around Genoa and in the Oltrepò Pavese
The vines grew wild and independently among other agricultural land. The variety was considered rustic, preferring poor soils and even managing with reduced water supplies.

Recent research has shown that exceptional qualitative performance can be achieved from 250 metres above sea level and it has been found that a light loamy soil is best suited to Timorasso vines, such as those found in the Tortona area.

The compact bunches of Timorasso grapes are easily recognisable as they consist of large and small berries at the same time and some have small branches without berries. Aborto floreale is the technical term for this in Italy, whereby part of the flowers do not develop into fully ripe berries. For a long time, the Timorasso owed this fact to the disinterest of winegrowers, who thought that this characteristic would indicate an inferior grape variety. And so they turned their attention to varieties that promised higher quantitative yields: Barbera and Cortese.

The latter does not cause any problems in the vineyard, produces a lot, gives a nice light must, is easier to vinify and immediately gives off a lot of fragrance, even if it then quickly loses it again. Quite the opposite of the Timorasso, with which Walter Massa has been trying to give Tortonese a new face since the 1980s.

Acceleration from 600 to 120,000

At the end of the eighties, Walter Massa, convinced of the power and potential of the Timorasso grape variety, began his experiments. Here and there, this ancient white grape was still available.

Chance helped: the demand of a well-known grappa producer for the pomace of the Timorasso gave the decisive starting capital for the experiments to a quality product.

600 bottles of Timorasso were the first yield in 1987. In 2005, 20,000 bottles came from Walter Massa's cellar alone and 120,000 in total from 30 grape producers from the Colli Tortonesi (27), Gavi (1), Monferrato Casalese (1) and Val Borbera (1), 18 of which bottle. Today, 42 hectares are planted with Timorasso, 23 of which are in production.

Walter Massa is always passionate when discussing autochthonous varieties and quality (Photo: Consorzio Obertengo)

But it is not the numbers that drive Walter Massa, but the desire to give his territory an identity. That is why he fights for quality, recognisability and fairness. He never tires of explaining his concepts, passing on his knowledge, and has thus managed to rally many of the other farms to his goal: recognition on the market. Every three months they meet to compare their products, Benchmark is Walter Massa's Timorasso: " My colleagues were afraid to do what I told you, because I was a bit revolutionary, so to speak: no sulphurising, no decanting. So we met regularly to check what everyone had in the cellar, so that all the producers who had no experience on the subject could compare their wines with mine and see that it was similar to mine and be reassured."

The Obertengo Consortium

The Consortium for the Protection of the Wines of Piedmont Obertengo (Marca Obertenga is the name for this area of land, which stems from a division of the region in the early Middle Ages) was formed in 1999, and the production rules for Timorasso were penned by Walter Massa.

The DOC rules of the Colli Tortonesi for Timorasso state:

The facts of the 2005 vintage of Timorasso are:

... at least 12 % vol. Alcohol

... at least 13.5 % vol. and more (this also applies to the other vintages)

... 80 quintals yield per hectare

... none goes beyond 70 quintals, the average yield is 60 - 65 quintals per hectare

... that the yield harvest in wine is a maximum of 65

... Yield Harvest in wine: 65

... Dry extract
min. 17 g/l

... Dry extract: 24 g/l

... Total acidity
min. 5 g/l

... Total acidity: between 6 and 7 g/l

... PH value: between 3.15 and 3.25

... Sulphur
never above 80 mg/l

... Residual sugar
never above 4 g/l

... 95 % Timorasso, 5 % other white, non-aromatic grape varieties authorised in the district of Alessandria

... 100 % Timorasso

... Wood ageing permitted

none (except Martinetti, who is not a member of the Obertengo consortium) ages his Timorasso in wood

... that the Timorasso may not be sold earlier than 13 months after the harvest, i.e. practically only from 1 November in the year following the harvest (a date on which a big festival is celebrated every year in the 30 hill communities of the production area)

... it will not be on the market before 2007'(the "old vines" also later)

Some bottles of Timorasso of the consortium members in combination with salami and Montébore. (Photo: Consorzio Obertengo)

The production criteria of the Timorasso are unanimously shared by all members and implemented with enthusiasm. This includes the commitment to use as little technical equipment as possible and to use only light pneumatic pressing.

Piedmont and Liguria in the 10th century AD divided into marcas. The Marca Obertenga stretched from Genoa to Piacenza (Source: gavionline.it)

The grapes undergo a maceration of between 24 and 36 hours, without sulphuring. Then comes the pressing, the decantation to "clean" the must. Then the must goes into stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature for a year. In the initial stage it is 20 to 23 °C and after alcohol fermentation, during which the grape's own yeasts have done their work, it is brought down to 10 to 18 °C. The must is then left to ferment. Malolactic fermentation starts spontaneously at this temperature, without the addition of external bacteria. Leaving the wine on its own "noble" fermentation residues is also a natural means against oxidation.

Wood ageing is controversial. So far, only one is experimenting with it. All the others unanimously agree that " the Timorasso is already very powerful and rich in structure, and wood would only weigh it down", summarises Elisa Semino, the young oenologist at "La Colombera", who, as part of her studies, helped to find the clones of the Timorasso, to research the different characteristics during ageing and in the wine press, and to catalogue the vineyards.

Elisa Semino oenologist at La Colombera with her brother Lorenzo who is a passionate snowboarder and 50th in the world rankings (Photo: La Colombera)

The Timorasso bears just this designation on the label - according to the rules of the DOC Colli Tortonesi Bianco. The demand of local producers for a separate DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata = controlled designation of origin) for Timorasso with the name DERTHONA (Latin for Tortona) has not yet been granted. In many cases, this fanciful designation can also be found on the label.

In the vineyard

The vine is raised in a trellis with vegetation growing upwards. The height of the rootstock is 50 cm. The pruning can be different: Guyot or spurred with 8 to 10 eyes (the first 4 usually have reduced fertility). The planting density is never less than 4,000 plants per hectare, but can exceed 7,000 in some cases.

Harvesting takes place towards the end of September/beginning of October, pretty much at the end of the harvesting period. This is problematic, because that is when the period of early dew and fog begins and in some cases the Timorasso suffers greatly. Its very special ripening process also demands a lot of attention from the winemaker, because it often takes only two days from the almost ripe grape to the grape that has to be harvested.

One producer even takes another risk: Azienda Agricola Renato Boveri. He opted for a late harvest, about 15 days after the others. His first Timorasso (and only white wine of the house) from the "Albarola" vineyard will be the 2005. The barrel or better tank sample is an explosion of fruitiness and freshness, still a bit "side by side" but very promising. We will know more in February 2007, when it will be bottled. For the winery it is more of a fun, a challenge to the others, because the "first love" here is Barbera.

Walter Massa shows us the Timorasso grapes in the development stage at the beginning of July (photos: Katrin Walter)

Three years of patience

In the first year after vinification, the Timorasso is rather a featureless fellow. You have to give it time. The true value and richness of the single-varietal Timorasso only manifests itself with the formation of tertiary aromas, during storage in the bottle, and mutates from a "dumb" wine to one that is capable of becoming excellent.

The wine shows its best after three years at the earliest. Now one should drink the vintages 2003, 2002, 2001, because these give the typical of the wine: ripe fruitiness, minerality, spiciness and balsamic tones, even older vintages also pickled fruits, dried field flowers, camomile, mint, lavender, tobacco, butter.

But at the beginning it shows only some fruitiness, some minerality, vegetal tones but one does not yet understand its power. According to the regulations, it can be sold after one year and two months.

"We offer it after two years and three months, but we also say that if you have a little more patience, maybe six months or a year, you will discover another wine," explains Elisa Semino

Most of them sell their Timorasso after about two years because of the commercial pressure. That's why the winegrowers no longer have any 2001. Very little of the 2002 vintage came onto the market, because the vintage was rainy and most of the Timorasso fell victim to rot. If you are lucky, you can still find a few bottles from 2003 with great potential, but the 2004 vintage in particular is on sale, a very balanced vintage. 2005 also promises great harmony.

Its longevity makes it a protagonist. If it is well cared for in the vineyard and handled with attention and hygiene in the cellar, it can reach well beyond 6 years. A wine, perhaps a little like the Montrachet?

The "lovers" of the Timura

It seems that one of the most benevolent advocates of the Timorasso was Leonardo da Vinci. The Tuscan scientist and artist brought as a gift to the wedding of Isabella d'Aragon this cheese, native to Piedmont, in the form of a three-tiered wedding cake accompanied by an exceptional and rare white wine, which better than any other underlined the special taste of this cheese: the Timuras.

The cheese is also rare but it is back. It is called Montébore and is usually made from 75% cow's milk and 25% goat's milk (never more than 40%), as was once the case in the 12th century, when this cheese, sent in batches of 50 to a spiritual dignitary, was intended to persuade him to make a positive reference to a family member. This tradition, in a modified form, is still particularly popular today in sport, politics and business. Cheese production, on the other hand, was abandoned about 20 years ago and only recently rediscovered and is now a passenger - like everything good and rare - on board SlowFood's ark.

The Montébore (Photos: Alexala and Katrin Walter)

This "tower of milk", as the cheese is called, probably more in reference to the shape of the castle of Montébore, is truly heavenly with Timorasso: as a cheese sauce with homemade green gnocchi or at the end of the meal with a little acacia honey. Drunk very fresh, Timorasso is also suitable as an aperitif, with pasta dishes and risottos, chicken or pork dishes, especially when aromatic herbs are involved. The best combinations are, of course, always the regional specialities, such as cured meats, "carne cruda", "peperoni ripieni" - also with tuna or anchovies -, goat's cheese. But it finds its full fulfilment in the company of a close neighbour of the house: the white truffle (of which a considerable part of the national production comes from Tortonese - more than from Albese), simply on "tajerin al burro" or a setzei.

Timorasso as a comparative term and an identity for Obertengo

Walter Massa's ambition: " The goal is for Timorasso to become a comparative term," is getting closer and closer. The wine has already been recognised by the market and critics, and the wine has its price: in the wine shops in the production area, you can buy a bottle of Timorasso for between 14.00 and 30.00 euros. Outside Italy, it costs a little more.

The importance of this wine for the individual producers has grown strongly, not only because of the prices that can be achieved. The production of quality white wine often entailed a conversion of the entire farm. Before Timorasso was planted, many did not even have the equipment to make white wine: the refrigeration technology, the right press, and so on. Then Timorasso was planted and investments had to be made, otherwise there would have been no need to start in the first place. Until then, white wine was only sold in damigiane (large demijohns with a capacity of between 28 and 54 litres for open wine sales) to private individuals. With the new technology, other wines, such as Cortese, were also converted to quality wine production and a great leap in quality was achieved at the farm level. Therefore, Timorasso is more than a wine here, it is the key to a new vision of wine production and one's own roots and the synonym for a happy combination of tradition and progress.

Technology, however, is given only marginal importance: only as much as necessary. Attention is paid to a responsible use of what nature offers. "The grapes reproduce themselves and develop what they need. The winemaking machine is already there and there is only one and it is called the sun," says Walter Massa and adds: "and then there is common sense.".

A not quite ripe Timorasso grape around the beginning of September Ripe, it is amber-coloured (Photos: Consorzio Obertengo and La Colombera)

Perhaps in this way he will be able to bring fame to Obertengo and give his land and that of his colleagues between Gavi, Novi and Tortona the longed-for identity to which famous "Obertenghi" already bear witness: from the composer Lorenzo Perosi, to Don Orione, the cyclists Costante Girardengo and Fausto Coppi, the historian Cornelio Desimoni, the composer Romualdo Marenco and the painter Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo.

To the interview with Walter Massa

To the Timorasso wines on Wein-Plus

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