VinoWeek - Episode 71 - Wine Tastings Making a Comeback

A recent article by Colman Andrews titled Paradise Lost: The Flame Out of Napa Valley’s Iconic Wine Country raised a number of eyebrows in Northern California. The article’s main themes being that the Valley’s growth has lessened its charm and that corporatization has made visits to Napa Wineries too expensive for most people.

I just recently attended the 18th annual Wine & Spirits Top 100 tasting at the City View at Metreon in San Francisco. This was the first public wine tasting I have attended in several years (we all know why) and that reluctance to attend public events was the sentiment of so many other attendees that I met and talked with over the evening. I offer some observations of how public wine tastings are changing and for the most part for the better.

Peg Melnik pens a nice piece highlighting pioneering Italian winegrowers in Sonoma County. Not everybody is selling out. It’s refreshing to see these families holding onto their traditions and successfully passing the business of winemaking onto their descendants. Bill and I discuss these items and more in this week's addition of VinoWeek. Thanks to everyone for listening. Cheers!

Our wine recommendation this week is the 2017 Vigneti Massa Derthona. Derthona is the age-old name of Tortona, a village in southeast Piedmont, in the northwest region of Italy. Derthona is Timorasso, a grape that had all but been abandoned until Walter Massa recognized its potential to make compelling wines. Up until the eighties Timarasso vines had been pulled and replanted with Cortese and Chardonnay which were easier to sell and more popular at the time. Massa began working with Timorasso vineyards he could find and also began planting new Timorasso vineyards in the eighties and nineties. This 100%Timorasso is a mix of several vineyards around the village of Monleale, although it should be noted that Massa also produces three vineyard designated Timorasso bottlings. It’s fermented using indigenous yeast, receives skin contact for 48 to 60 hours beforehand and battonage after fermentation in stainless steel and concrete vats. He holds the wine for six months after bottling as Timorasso can be quite shy and unexpressive when young. With bottle age it comes around and begins to display its powerful and concentrated flavors. In the glass the color is a bright vibrant gold. The aromas show yellow fruit, honeyed almonds and beeswax. On the palate more of the afore mention flavors the wine is intensely rich and unctuous with surprising freshness and acidity and a medium length finish. Given the substantial structure of this wine I suggest you pair it with rich chicken and pork dishes or fondue. When Massa started this rediscovery of Timorasso there were just a handful of hectares planted. Today there are more than 150 hectares planted in the Colli Tortonesi DOC (Tortona hills). This is a wine you will probably have to hunt down. Unless you’re working with a specialty wine retailer you’ll have to source it over the internet. Having said that if your your looking for a new distinctive high quality wine to experience and learn about then don’t miss out on Walter Massa’s Derthona. 13.5% alc 5,000 cases $32 - $39