Walter Massa is widely credited with rescuing the Timorasso variety from extinction while Mandirola Vini, a Casasco-based winery, is in the corner waving “Over here!!! Over here!! According to a post on the estate's Instagram page (May 21, 2021), "The Mandirola family has been growing this amazing indigenous grape for more than 50 years." That is to say, pre, during, and post the Massa revival; and points to origin-plantings in the plots acquired in 1913, or in the period between 1960 and 1980.
Post-Massa-revival plantings were made in the Lù della Costa field (a later acquisition) in 1992, with holdings of the variety rounded out with the 2010s purchase of Tantéi, a historic Timorasso vineyard. The vines herein are 80+ years of age.
This is in no way gainsaying Massa's efforts at refining the production processes and persistence in marketing the wines. Rather, it is to say that the Mandirola family has (i) demonstrated experience with this variety and (ii) the most continuous through-line with this variety of any of the producers that I have encountered to date. The family currently farms 30 ha, of which 11 are dedicated to vineyards, 11 is arable land, 2 are planted to fruit trees, and 6 are wooded.
According to company literature, the vineyards "create a single body that covers the right side of the hilly ridge that connects Casasco to Magrassi." These southwest-facing vineyards reside on calcareous clay soils at elevations ranging between 300 and 350 m. Average vine age is 40 years with the younger vines trained Guyot and the older ones spurred cordon. Vine density averages 4000/ha.
The farming practices employed highlight the company's commitment to conservation, sustainability, and the production of high-quality grapes:
- The vineyards are planted transversal to the line of the maximum hillside slope in order to minimize rainwater-runoff erosion
- Production levels are kept at the low end of the scale (6000 kg/ha)
- Fertilizers and pesticides employed at the estate adhere to the EU standards
- Copper and sulphur are the only treatments utilized
- Grass grown between rows for habitat prservation
- Winter and summer prunings aimed to "better balance the vegetation of the vine by improving its productivity in terms of quality."
The estate produces two Timorasso wines -- Tantéi and Derthona -- from home-grown fruit. The grapes are hand-harvested into small baskets and then transported to the cellar for processing. There is no maceration. The grapes are soft-pressed and racked into cement tanks for fermentation with selected yeasts. and aging. There is no malolactic fermentation. Sulphites -- amounting to between 50 and 60 mg/l -- are added at the beginning and end of fermentation. The wine is aged on the lees for 12 months and the Tantéi sees a brief residence in used wooden and oaken barrels prior to bottling. The Derthona is aged for 3 - 4 months in bottle, the Tantéi 6 - 8 months. No clarifiers are used in the processing and filtration is limited "in order to preserve the peculiarities of the wine."
I tasted the 2018 vintage of the former and the 2019 vintage of the latter.
The 2018 Timorassi Tantéi is a 100% Timorasso with grapes from the historic vineyard of the same name. I tasted this wine on the first day and found it to be uncharacteristic of a Timorasso. I did not find the sapidity, acidity, structure, and complexity on the nose to which I had become accustomed. It also seemed relatively light of body. I tasted the wine on the following day, however, and it was markedly different. It was tastier, was fuller bodied, and salinity was emergent. Based on its performance on the second day, I would suggest holding this wine for a number of years before opening.
The 2019 Timorasso Derthona is a 100% Timorasso with grapes drawn from non-Tantèi vineyards.
This was a more traditional Timorasso wine. White flowers, salinity, green herbs, spice, licorice, sweet white fruit, and hydrocarbon on the nose. Bright acidity, citrus, and spice on the palate. Balanced, with a lengthy finish.
An interesting contrast of styles.
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