white grape · regional specialty
Timorasso
Colli Tortonesi, Piedmont, Italy
Say it
teem·oh·rass·oh
Double 's' is crisp, not voiced; final -o is pure, not diphthonged
On the palate
white peachapricotpearlemonalmondpetrol
How you spot it blind: Full-bodied high-acid white that develops Riesling-like petrol with age
The story
First written down · 1304, Colli Tortonesi, Piedmont
Reduced to roughly 400 surviving vines by 1987, Timorasso was revived by Walter Massa of Monleale through massal selection and first bottled as a varietal that same year; DNA confirms a parent-offspring relationship with Lambruschetto (other parent unknown).
Where it lives
Colli Tortonesi, Piedmont, Italy
Shows up as
still whitesparklingDerthonaColli Tortonesi