Post-modern Timorasso production expanded beyond the traditional stainless steel fermentation/aging vessels to include materials such as oak (barrique and cask), ceramics, concrete, etc. I have covered oak use by Martinetti and Sassaia and will explore ceramic implementations in this post.
Daniele Ricci
The first instance of amphora use that I explore is from the organic Costa Vescovato farmer Daniele Ricci who crafts four Timorasso wines from calcareous clay marl vineyards planted in 1986, 1989, 1992, and 1996. His traditional production method is fermentation in stainless steel followed by elevage in stainless steel or untreated oak or acacia barrels. In the case of his Io Camino Da Solo wine, however, the grapes are macerated for 100 days in amphora before transfer to untoasted oak barrels for 12 months aging.
Vietti
Luca and Elena Currado detailed their Timorasso production process during a Zoom Master Class with Brian Larky of Dalla Terra Winery Direct. According to Luca, because Timorasso is a white variety, everyone thinks that it needs to be protected from oxygen. On the contrary, he says. Timorasso is a variety that needs oxygen. Further, it has a lot of phenolics in the skin but likes some skin contact.
Vietti, according to Luca, had completed three experimental vintages prior to its initial release on the market. The first experiment withheld oxygen from the wine; and the result was "stinky." This led him to conclude that some oxygen exposure was required. He did not want to use barriques because he did not want the oak transfer that came with that. He settled, instead, for a mix of large casks and ceramic eggs, with the eggs providing the same amount of oxygen transfer without material impediment.
In Timorasso production, the lees need to remain suspended in the solution in order to limit reduction. Fluid movement within the egg effectuates lees-stirring.
Luca sees two styles of winemaking within the Colli Tortonesi region: on the one hand, fresh, brilliant, vertical wines and, on the other, high-skin-contact phenolic wines. Vietti's aim is to make a wine that is somewhere in the middle.
Clayver Vessels
I Carpini and Sassaia both use Clayver ceramic vessels in their wine production. The Clayver is a stoneware round egg that was inspired by clay amphorae and produced for the first time in 2014.
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| Clayver ceramic vessels (Source: clayver.it) |
The round shape (in addition to being esthetically pleasing):
- Keeps the grape cap moist during fermentation
- Generates convective movements which reshuffle the fine lees
- Renders it "resistant, isolating, and easy to sterilize."
In addition, the wall thickness "generates thermal inertia and a uniform oxygen exchange." There is no material transfer into the wine.
I Carpini
I Carpini is an organic farm producing Timorasso dry and sparkling wines from grapes grown in the Pozzol Groppo commune. Its Timox is an orange wine which was initially made in small amphorae beginning in 2011. The winery purchased seven Clayvers in 2015.
The grapes for the Timox wine macerate for 15 days. Fermentation initiates spontaneously while the grapes are housed in an open tank. Post-fermentation the wine is transferred to the Clayver vessels for 12 months aging on the lees.
Sassaia
Enrico de Alessandrini of Sassaia first learned of the Clayver Technology in 2017 and became enamored. After further research, he eventually employed the technology in the 2018 trials for fermentation of whites and aging of reds. He sees the advantages of the technology as :
- Consistent porosity
- Ease of sanitation
- Easier batonnage.
Sassaia expects to use the technology for both fermentation and aging going forward. It will be used, particularly, as part of the neutral regime in the production of the Derthona Riserva.
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