Vietti adds rare Timorasso to portfolio

Piedmont producer Vietti has added a new white wine to its portfolio made from the rare local variety Timorasso.

The wine comes from vineyards located around the town of Tortona in the Colli Tortonesi, near the border between Piedmont and its neighbouring provinces of Liguria, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna.

The blue ‘Tortonian’ marl of the region suits Timorasso well and is the same soil that comprises art of the ridge in Barolo as well. Timorasso has been grown in this part of Piedmont for centuries and in the Middle Ages was considered the leading white grape in the area.

The region was, like so much of Europe, devastated by Phylloxera in 1879 and the variety fell into disuse while red grapes began to predominate after the Second World War which pushed the grape further into decline.

The variety was saved in the 1980s by Walter Massa and Andrea Mutti who saved what vines they could and whose winemaking efforts sparked a renaissance for the variety which has and “exceptional ageing and evolutionary potential”.

Since 2000 many producers have chosen to label their Timorasso as coming from ‘Derthona’ – the ancient Roman name for Tortona.

It is the second white variety in the Vietti stable, the other being a Roero Arneis that has been produced since 1967.

Vietti said in a statement that it had spent “years of research and collaboration with local winemakers” before releasing the new wine.

The wine was aged in a mixture of ceramic, wood and stainless steel for 10 months on its lees with some batonnage and a further six months in bottle before release.

The winery said it was also developing “additional vineyards in Derthona and plans to add one more bottling to the portfolio in future”.