| Producer | Daniele Ricci |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Piedmont |
| Varietal | Timorasso |
| Vintage | 2018 |
| Sku | 1149122 |
| Size | 750ml |
 |
Tasting Notes: The Daniele Ricci San Leto Timorasso comes from vines that were planted in 1989 and 1992. San Leto also undergoes three days of maceration without any pump-overs so not to extract any bitterness or less noble elements from the skins. The wine is then aged in untoasted acacia barrels for a minimum of twelve months, rendering a brilliant snapshot of one of Italy’s most intriguing white varietals. It maintains Timorasso’s prominent acidity and mineral qualities while hinting at more secondary and tertiary aromas and flavors of candied kumquat, orange pepper, and thyme. Pair with bollito misto, tortelloni di zucca, roasted veggies, and cheeses.
Estate History: The Ricci winery is in the Costa Vescovado area of the Colli Tortonesi, known historically as Cascina San Leto. It was purchased in 1929 by his grandmother Clementina and Grandfather Carlo as an agricultural farm, where alongside cattle and wheat, they planted the farm with local grapes, mostly Timorasso with smaller amounts of Barbera and Croatina. Timorasso has all but been abandoned since it was nearly wiped from extinction when phylloxera devastated most of the area’s vines in the mid-late 19th century. Years of struggle followed due to economic changes and the intense competition with other wine-growing areas in the Piedmont region. Daniele and his father did not grow up on the farm but rediscovered it years later and began the journey to becoming one of the main proponents of Timorasso, reinvigorating and reinterpreting this historic white grape in new and revolutionary ways.
For his Timorasso and Cortese grapes, Daniele will sometimes use long macerations on the skins, refines in underground amphorae, eliminates the use of selected yeasts, and does not clarify. While famous for his various expressions of Timorasso he has also gotten attention for his production of red wines, from local Barbera and Croatina grapes, while exploiting the Tortonian marl, in which the soils at Costa Vescovado are rich, as a source of natural finesse and evolution.
