Vigneti Massa Derthona 2022

Walter Massa, the symbol of sophisticated and independent wine growing, but at the same time unique and unconventional, is indisputably the father of the revival of Timorasso. This native variety is from a small plot of land that is historically linked to Milan but now constitutes the southeast part of Piedmont. Enthusiasts of great Italian territorial whites are obviously well versed in the character and personality of Timorasso, a seemingly rough and wiry vine that, in the expert hands of great maestros like Walter Massa, becomes an absolute champion of materiality, minerality and longevity. The gentle hills of Tortona, 300 meters above sea level on soils of skeleton and structure, are the cradle of this artisanal and agriculturally-aware wine, with its incredible expressiveness and infinite sensory complexity. Derthona, the winery range’s incoming product, is a Timorasso which is exemplary of Walter Massa's philosophy, made up of obsessive selections in the vineyard, aging on the lees, stabilization in steel containers and significant conditioning dictated by variability of the year. Derthona is, therefore, a truly straightforward and natural wine, which behind its seemingly unassuming appearance of a pale straw-gold colour, is a veritable explosion of sensations, destined to deepen and evolve over the decades. Delicately floral, with pervasive acacia and lime wood, it tastes citrusy and gently fruity when young. But the mineral temperament, which is already in this young Derthona, is the explosive feature that best provides a clue to its future evolution. There is something tense about it, reminiscent of a hydrocarbon, silica, vegetables, and which constitutes the maximum guarantee of longevity of this Derthona. The taste is simply the prolongation of the olfactory sensations. Pulpy, rich, dense, warm, but also tense, dense, vertical, with an endless freshness and energetic flavour, wiry, irresistible. A prelude to a glorious future. Needless to say, the persistence of almond and citrus is further proof of emotions that were meant to last.