2012 Vigneti Massa, Derthona Timorasso, Colli Tortonesi, Piedmonte, Italy.
Walter Massa almost single handedly saved this varietal from extinction and makes what might be the best example of Timorasso you can find. This white is a wonderful expression of complexity and terroir with intense almost meat character with fine details and alluring textures along with steely mineral and vibrant fruit. The 2012 Massa Timorasso is exotic and savory, it was fermented using native yeasts and kept on it’s lees for a year, from all organic vines with no new wood, allowing the grape’s true nature to shine through. I was thrilled by this wine, in the glass it has a light golden pale hue, clear and bright with an earthy nose that has a hint of floral elements along with bacon oil and cheesy/lessy notes, like a young white Hermitage, but not as dense, leading to a vigorous palate with tangy citrus, lemon/lime, jasmine, white anise, kumquat, wet river rocks with chalk and flint spice along with peach and bruised apple. The vitality and light/medium body of this wine makes it extremely flexible with cuisine, though this wine will not be for everyone, it is an intriguing study and absolutely pure in quality and style. Drink this impressive white from Piedmonte’s southeast corner over the next 3 to 5 years, and bravo to Massa for bringing back this native grape, the world is a better place for having Timorasso and Erbaluce, another Piedmonte white grape that has made a stunning come back, awesome.
($28 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
