Italian Masterclass Offer

Fruity with hints fo ripe cherry and red fruit on the nose. On the palate this is full-bodied and round with more red fruit and a poised acidity

100% Timorasso. Five generations of Massas laboured tirelessly to keep the Timorasso flame alight whilst cheap Pinot Grigio and Prosecco rolled past by the truckload. It’s not difficult to see the origins of Walter’s frustration. Here on the steep hills just east of Tortona grow the last few hectares of Timorasso in the world. An ancient variety with thick skins, low yields, high disease susceptibility and immense concentration, it ought to be served by the glass in every restaurant with even the slightest aspirations to a decent wine list. The Timorasso ‘Derthona’ is initially shy in the glass but develops red apple, apricot and tangerine with time. Extended lees contact gives it a creamy mouthfeel often mistaken for oak (there is none) and the acidity will keep it developing in bottle for ages.

With the grapes harvested at the end of Ocotber the long ripening season ensures a brilliant, luminous, deep golden colour with flashes of gold and green. An outstanding, elegant and balanced wine with captivating fragrances of white flowers, minerals, citrus, white fruit, pear and apple overlaid by subtle honey. The fine acidity melds well in the richness of the body and in the long aftertaste of mineral and fruit.

Terredora di Paolo

Enitely made from the Sardinian Nuragus grape, which historically does not have the best reputation, this is hand-harvested, fermented with 24 hrs' skin contact in stainless steel. Aged in steel for 11 months on fine lees, unfined, unfiltered. A noble, deep, complex white wine, for lovers of Xarel.lo or whites from the northern Rhône.

From right in the centre of Sardinia, this is 95% Monica Nero (one of the many grapes found pretty much only in Sardinia)with a little Bovalleddu (Graciano) and Tintillu (Mazuelo/Carignan). The vines are all between 60-120 years old and provide intense dark peppery fruit. Hand harvested with wild yeast fermentation, 1/3 in steel and the rest in oak barrels before 12 months lees aging; the wine is big and structural with a nod to intense Southern Rhones but a bit more rustic in style.

On the nose there is the nectar of field flowers such as camomile, elderflower, iris. Mineral on the palate with a finish of almond, typical of classic Garganega.

Azienda Agricola Inama