Vigneti Massa ‘Piccolo Derthona’ 2024

Vigneti Massa is a family owned estate established in 1879 in Monleale, in southeastern Piemonte’s Colli Tortonesi. Today, the domaine is led by Walter Massa, widely credited with rescuing the indigenous timorasso grape from near extinction. When Walter began championing the variety in the 1980s, it had largely been abandoned in favor of more productive grapes. Through his efforts to revive old vineyards, improve viticulture and demonstrate the grape’s aging potential, timorasso has become one of Piemonte’s most distinctive white varieties. The estate also produces red wines from barbera, croatina and freisa.

Walter farms approximately 35 hectares across several vineyard sites, practicing organic viticulture without formal certification. His vineyards occupy hillsides with varying elevations, exposures and soils composed of clay, limestone and marl. Rather than blending all his fruit together, he vinifies individual parcels separately to preserve their distinct characteristics. For Piccolo Derthona, he selects grapes from 15 timorasso plots, with vines ranging from 2 to 45 years old, situated between 240 and 400 meters above sea level.

Piccolo Derthona 2024 is made entirely from timorasso, with grapes harvested earlier than those destined for Massa’s more structured Derthona bottling. The fruit undergoes spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks, without skin maceration. The wine then spends five months undergoing élevage in stainless steel, with no oak used. A small amount of sulfur is added only at bottling. The 2024 growing season was unusually rainy, resulting in significantly reduced yields and a lighter, fresher expression of timorasso.

The wine opens with aromas of white flowers, green apple, citrus peel and subtle herbal notes. On the palate, it combines bright acidity with a gently textured, mineral driven character, finishing dry and refreshing with hints of honey and almond. More approachable in its youth than Massa’s longer aged timorasso bottlings, it nevertheless retains the grape’s characteristic depth and structure.