2024 Timorasso DOC Derthona Organic, La Spinetta
Timorasso was nearly extinct forty years ago — a handful of growers in the Colli Tortonesi, in the far southeast of Piedmont, kept it alive, and now it's one of Italy's most talked-about white grapes. La Spinetta, famous for its powerful Barbarescos, farms this one organically and bottles it under the local Roman name for the town of Tortona: Derthona.
What makes Timorasso special is that it does two things at once — the aromatic generosity of a ripe southern white, and the structure and mineral drive of something built to age. The 2024 pours a bright golden yellow.
The nose leads with golden citrus and ripe peach, then honey, yellow apple, a little hay and a waxy, almost candle-wax note that's a Timorasso signature. On the palate it's medium-bodied and beautifully balanced: zesty and chalky, with a saline lift, lemon-oil brightness and a rounded, textured middle. There's real tension here — the kind of savoury, stony grip that makes you want another mouthful. Delicious young, but the better bottles of Timorasso famously turn petrolly and complex with age, so there's no rush.
How to Serve
Serve at 10–12°C in a generous white wine glass. Not too cold — you want the texture and the waxy, mineral character to show. A splash of air does a young bottle good.
Where to Drink It
Trullo in Highbury, for its northern Italian cooking. Bocca di Lupo in Soho, always up for a regional Italian curiosity. Noble Rot, for its love of mineral, textured whites.
Food Pairings
Try it with a plate of vitello tonnato, a risotto, or roast pork. The saline grip is also a fine match for fritto misto or grilled prawns.
