Claudio
Mariotto
VHO - Piedmont
“Finally the great reds of Piedmont have an age-worthy white wine to match.”
Now at a critical point in its revival, Timorasso is one of the most exciting wines currently flowing out of Italy. With it’s clear minerality, structure and longevity, Timorasso, virtually extinct just 30 years ago, leaps out of obscurity into your glass.
Timorasso is a thin-skinned, trouble-maker white grape native to the south-eastern corner of Piedmont near Alessandria known as Colli Tortonesi (the hills of Tortona). Its bunches ripen unevenly and are fragile, easily detaching from the vine and can suffer from failures at flowering. It has a dense canopy that needs serious taming and a tendency to over produce, requiring specific growing sites. In other words, growing Timorasso is a lot of work with plenty of risk; no wonder extinction was on the cards by the 1980s.
During the Timorasso revival (from near extinction) in the 90’s, Claudio took over his family’s lands, began selecting the best clones from their vineyards and giving the best sites over to this fickle grape variety. As one of the few ‘saviour’ producers, Claudio has some of the best experience with Timorasso that there is.
Along with Walter Massa, Claudio defines the variety’s modern style: native yeast spontaneous ferments, very slow and gentle pressing, stainless steel ageing on fine lees for a year with light battonage + further bottle age before release. Oak is never used. We are proud to work with Claudio’s three different cru vineyards: Bricco San Michele, Cavallina and Pitasso.
THE WINES
Claudio Mariotto Colli Tortonesi DOC Timorasso Cru ‘Bricco San Michele’ (available in 1.5 L magnums)
‘Bricco San Michele’ is a youthful planting that covers 10 hectares on an east / south east facing hillside in Vho, with limestone and clay soils. This cru vineyard and it’s youthful vines delivers a chiseled version of Timorasso that is destined for greatness.
The wine is intense, long, persistent, floral and fruity, with a warming sensation on the palate. ‘Bricco San Michele’ is very typical of Timorasso; mineral with notes of chamomile, ripe yellow plums, and toasted almond on the finish. Soft, elegant and concentrated.
Soft press, spontaneous ferment, 12 months on fine lees in stainless steel + 12 months in bottle before release. No malo.
Claudio Mariotto Colli Tortonesi DOC Timorasso Cru ‘Cavallina’
‘Cavallina' is a 2 hectare hillside cru facing east, renowned for its white marl (limestone mix) soils. Mango flesh, chamomile and lemon sherbet characters are carried by racy acidity. One of the greats. As with the others, the wine making is identical – showing the effect of aspect and soils.
Soft press, spontaneous ferment, 12 months on fine lees in stainless steel + 12 months in bottle before release. No malo.
Claudio Mariotto Colli Tortonesi DOC Timorasso Cru ‘Pitasso’
'Pitasso' is a bottling of 2 hectares of Claudio's oldest vines with a S/SW aspect. It has even more layers of complex density when compared to Cavallina and Bricco San Michele, further saturating its acid backbone with deep fruit, mineral and spice notes that could fool you into thinking it has been oaked. This is one of the most prestigious whites of Piedmont.
Soft press, spontaneous ferment, 12 months on fine lees in stainless steel + 12 months in bottle before release. No malo.
Claudio Mariotto Timorasso Colli Tortonesi DOC 'Imbevibile' (macerated)
Fruit from Bricco San Michele Cru. Soft and slow pressing of the grapes, maceration on the skins for approximately 15 days, spontaneous thermo-controlled fermentation, 12 months on the noble lees in amphora and at least 12 months in the bottle.
Claudio Mariotto Freisa Colli Tortonesi DOC ‘Braghé’
“If you could bottle an autumnal woodland stroll when the bramble fruits are in full ripeness and the moisture rises up from the undergrowth, bringing with it scents of wet leaves, mushrooms and earth, well you'd get pretty close to this Freisa from Claudio Mariotto.”
Claudio Mariotto is the third generation of a family of farmers from Tortona, in the province of Alexandria – less than an hour east of Asti. You know Mariotto as a Timorasso master yet his Freisa shows just how good he is across the board. The wines’ freshness and vibrancy is striking, with juicy raspberry, squished sour blackberry and pretty violet. There's a wonderfully earthy character under the fruit and the wine is bright, medium weighted and fleshy-fresh. It is a multi-faceted wine full of interest, texture and a weight that suits a range of foods. We cannot recommend this wine highly enough, it is a steal at the price.
Soft and slow pressing of the grapes, maceration for 4/5 days and racking. At least 6 months in steel tanks and at least 6 months in the bottle.
THE timorasso VINEYARDS
Claudio Mariotto Colli Tortonesi DOC Timorasso Cru ‘Bricco San Michele’
Sub Region: Sarezzano
Hectares: 10 of Timorasso
Planted: 2016
Face: East/ South East
Soil: Clay (top), Marl (bottom)
Claudio Mariotto Colli Tortonesi DOC Timorasso Cru ‘Cavallina’
Sub Region: Vho
Hectares: 2
Planted: 2000
Face: East
Soil: Marl
Claudio Mariotto Colli Tortonesi DOC Timorasso Cru ‘Pitasso’
Sub Region: Vho (between the cellar and Sarezzano)
Hectares: 2
Planted: 1998
Face: West and South West
Soil: Marl (top), Clay (bottom)
FURTHER READING
To read more about Claudio Mariotto follow the link below:
https://www.astrumwinecellars.com/producers/details/claudio-mariotto