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Piedmont, A White Wine and Winery Worth Noting
By Neil Duarte
For many Americans today, the beverage of choice has become white wine. Though the California Chardonnays remain a popular selection, many white wine drinkers
are moving to drier wines such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. However, the drawback to white wines, at least in the eyes of many, is that they are poor choices to drink with those dishes that require a
haughtier wine. Such a blanket condemnation may no longer be applicable.
On a recent trip to Piedmont in the northwestern part of Italy, my wife and I were introduced to a most impressive white wine born of
the ancient Timorasso grape. It was bottled under the name "Derthona" from the vineyards of Walter Massa (Vigneti Massa) in Monleale (vignetimassa@libero.it). The Timorasso wine is ready for drinking about 18 months
after harvesting. Unlike many white wines it will last for ten or more years after bottling. The Massa family has been producing wines in the same location in the Tortonese Hills in the southeastern part of Piedmont
since 1879. Until about ten years ago, Vigneti Massa produced its white wine from the Cortese grape, the base for the excellent Gavi wines. However, Walter felt that a return to the Timorasso grape would offer the
possibility of a wine capable of embellishing virtually all red meat dishes and heavy cheeses. Thus, he brought back the Timorasso grape as a replacement for his Cortese vines.
Why were we so impressed by the
Vigneti Massa Timorasso wine? The wine was served at an excellent dinner of traditional Piedmontese dishes cooked by Massimo Martina. Massimo and his wife Emanuela are the owners of Il Fiorile Ristorante and
Ospitalia (www.ilfiorile.com). Their restaurant and inn is located in the quaint village of Castel Ratti just outside Borghetto di Borbera in the southeastern part of Piedmont
near the town of Gavi. The dinner featured as its main course pork tenderloin baked in Massimo's own selection of local herbs and served with seasonal local vegetables. We had ordered a good bottle of Barbera d'Asti
to accompany this course and were almost half finished the course when Massimo brought over the Vigneti Massa Timorasso. After somewhat reluctantly agreeing to try the wine, we were amazed at how well it
complemented the pork. It was full bodied and rivaled any white wine I had ever tasted. After the wonderful meal we commended the chef on all his courses and thanked him for introducing us to a new and superb white
wine. As we were to stay in the area for a while, Massimo and Emanuela offered to take us to Vigneti Massa and introduce us to Walter Massa.
The next day, on a cool and typically foggy fall morning in
Piedmont, we traveled to Monleale. There we met Walter Massa, the reviver of the Timorasso grape and a leader in the new wave of wine makers in southeastern Piedmont. During a tour of his winery, Walter explained
his passion for this grape and clearly showed his love of wine making. In addition to the Timorasso white wine, Vigneti Massa also produces two excellent Barbera wines, one of which, labeled as "Bigolla", regularly
competes favorably with the Barbera wines of the better-known Langhe Valley. After a most enjoyable morning spent tasting a variety of wines from Vigneti Massa, we departed having purchased several bottles of both
Timorasso and Barbera wine. Subsequent to our trip to Piedmont, we learned that Vigneti Massa had won the prestigious Tre Bichieri award in the 2007 Vini d'Italia Wine Guide for its 2004 Colli Tortonesi Sterpi.
Neil Duarte, Massimo Martina and Walter Massa tasting one of Vigneti Massa's Barbara wines.
If you are looking to escape the masses of tourists normally found in other areas of Italy, the towns of southeastern Piedmont offer an opportunity to enjoy excellent food
and superb wines in a less hectic setting. Il Fiorile Ristorante and Vigneti Massa are two of the best examples of the marvelous food and wine available. The spring and fall are the best times to venture there.
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Last updated on July 01, 2008