Walter Massa's Timorasso

In Mining Italy’s riches last June, an appreciation of some of Italy’s less mainstream wines, I drew attention to the delights of Timorasso, a top-quality white wine grape grown in the far south east of Piemonte. As is so often the case, one grower can be credited with the recuperation of this indigenous variety, Walter Massa of the Colli Tortonesi.

I had the pleasure of attending a special presentation of some of his favourite examples of this obviously noble variety in Sicily last October. He reported that nowadays there are about 25 small-scale producers making a Timorasso, in a wide...