About Vigneti Massa
Vigneti Massa is a family-run estate based in Monleale, in the Colli Tortonesi zone of southeastern Piedmont, Italy. It is operated by Walter Massa, who is widely credited with reviving the Timorasso grape variety and establishing it as a serious white wine of the region. The estate produces wines primarily from Timorasso, Barbera, and Croatina grown on the estate's steep hillside vineyards.
Prices are for take away and shipping. The wine bar serves from its own list.
The winery
About Vigneti Massa
History
The family estate in Monleale, a village of about 600 people in the Colli Tortonesi of south east Piedmont, was founded in 1879 by Walter Massa's great grandfather. At the time about ninety percent of the vineyards held Barbera, with small amounts of Croatina, Moscato, Cortese and a rare local white called Timorasso. Walter joined the farm in 1978, at 23, after studying enology, and he was the first in the family to bottle wine under the Vigneti Massa label.
The land and the vineyards
The vineyards lie on the hills of Monleale and nearby areas. Profiles give the estate as 22 to 23 hectares in eight distinct vineyard areas, with about ten hectares for Timorasso, though the winery's own site could not be read for this text. Timorasso nearly disappeared after phylloxera struck the area in the late 1800s and farmers moved to higher yielding grapes. Massa took cuttings from old vineyards in the Val Borbera and Val Grue, enough for 5,000 vines, and planted them in spring 1990.
The wines
His first Timorasso came from the 1987 vintage, made from about 400 vines scattered through the family's vineyards, and gave around 560 bottles. The 1988 wine fermented slowly and was bottled in September, so he started holding the wine back for a year before release. He advises waiting about seven years for a bottle to peak, when it gains minerality, riper stone fruit and honey and nut notes. Today the estate makes about 15,000 bottles of single vineyard Timorasso and about 60,000 bottles of Derthona, the territorial name for Timorasso blended from several vineyards. The estate also makes reds from Barbera, Croatina and Freisa.
Today
Walter Massa is widely credited with reviving Timorasso. Around 58 producers now make it, with roughly 193,000 bottles a year and 127 hectares planted, according to the local consortium figures quoted in the press. Well known names from other regions have started to plant it, and the area keeps growing by 10 to 15 percent a year.
- Founded
- 1879
- Vineyards
- About 22 to 23 hectares (third party profiles)
- Main grapes
- Timorasso, Barbera, Croatina, Freisa
- Owners
- Massa family
- Winemaker
- Walter Massa