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Friday, April 23, 2021

Non-Langhe Timorasso believers: Scarpa, Cascina Degli Ulivi, Broglia

A number of Langhe producers have procured vineyard land in Colli Tortonesi DOC in order to pursue the possibilities associated with Timorasso wine. But they are not the only "non-native" Piemontese producers seeking to leverage the potential of the Timorasso grape. To date my research has turned up two Gavi (Cascina Degli Ulivi and Broglia) and one Monferrato (Scarpa) producers thus engaged. But while the Langhe producers are taking somewhat similar paths on the journey, the non-Langhians are not similarly uniform in their approaches.

Scarpa
Scarpa, located in Nizza Monferrato, was founded back in the mid-1850s and is best known for quality red wines based on sustainable agriculture, traditional winemaking, and long bottle-aging. As is the case for the Langhe producers, Scarpa makes a 100% Timorasso wine but, unlike the Langhe producers, the grapes are grown in Acqui Terme (Monferrato), outside of the designated Colli Tortonesi DOC growing zone. As a result, the wine (I Bricci) is designated Monferrato Bianco DOC Timorasso.

The Scarpa Timorasso is the manifestation of an abiding fear of the Colli Tortonesi Timorasso producers: If they remain tied to the variety, wines can be made wherever the vine can be grown, resulting in non-characteristic wines and a dilution of the brand value. The producers are protecting against this by moving to designate Timorasso wines from Colli Tortonesi grapes as "Derthona", the ancient Roman name for the region. The name Derthona is trademarked by Massa but he has encouraged its free use for wines made from locally grown grapes. The name is now under consideration by the Ministry of Agriculture as an official designation.

Cascina Degli Ulivi
Cascina Degli Ulivi is a biodynamic farm operating in the Novi Ligure area of Gavi. Its noted late owner Steffano Bellotti was largely responsible for the "legitimization of biodynamic viticulture ... since the early 1980s." His polyculture approach to farming led to most of his wines being declassified to Vinos de Tavola.

The estate's Vino Bianco A Demûa is made from a field blend (Filagnotti Vineyard) of Timorasso, Verdea, Bosco, Riesling, and Chasselas. The grapes are macerated on their skins in botti for 9 months and, after racking, the wine is aged on its lees for another two months. The percentage of Timorasso grapes in the blend is unknown but, in any case, this is non-Derthona Timorasso.

Broglia
Broglia is the Gavi producer whose Timorasso strategy is most closely aligned with the Langhe-producer approach. The company farms 65 ha of vineyards on the 100-acre La Meirana estate.

Broglia purchases its grapes in the commune of Costa Vescovata. They are grown in calcareous soils at elevations ranging between 300 and 350 m on south-facing slopes. The vines are pruned Guyot. The wines are aged for 18 months on their lees in small steel tanks.

The 2018 version of their Derthona is the most balanced, and the most approachable, Timorasso that I have tasted to date.


On the nose, herbs, spice, sweet fruit, waxiness, stony minerality, lees, mint, and salinity.

I did not get the initial rush of acidity on the palate as has been the case with the other young Timorasso's that I have tasted to date. Rather, the acidity was well integrated into the overall schema of the wine. Medium weight, rich, lime, umami, green herbs, and salinity. Enervating of the salivary glands. Robust. Great end-to-end consistency. Persistent. Long, saline finish.

The wine did not fall-off on the second day. It works equally well as a cocktail wine or a food wine. On the second day  paired it with a plant-based burger; and it gave no quarter. Buy this wine.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

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