2017 Ricci Derthona Timorasso Colli Tortonesi DOC

Color Brilliant golden yellow

Aroma Intense marine and herbaceous aromas on a base of citrus and sweet spices

Taste In balance between freshness and softness, pleasant to drink and citrus persistence

Vineyards 20 years old on soils rich in Tortonian marl. Biological agriculture

Vinification Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts only and maceration of 3 days on the skins in acacia wood barrels. Unfiltered and uncleared

Refinement 12 months in used acacia wood barrels of 700 liters

Production philosophy Artisanal, No added sulphites or minimum, Indigenous yeasts

The Ricci winery in Costa Vescovado in the Tortonesi Hills, historically called Cascina San Leto, has existed since 1929, when grandmother Clementina and grandfather Carlo lived it as an all-round farm, alongside the rows of animals and wheat. In the years to come that deep bond with the land was untied, thanks to the changed economic context and the ever-critical competition with the other wine-growing areas of Piedmont. Daniele, like his father, lived most of his life away from that uncontaminated patch of land, working as a toll booth along the Milan-Serravalle. Today, 15 years later, more and more wine enthusiasts, young and veterans, conservatives and wine-naturalists, travel along that highway to visit that winemaker who reinterpreted Timorasso in an imaginative and eclectic way. Ten years ago Walter Massa came and brought back the production area of ​​Tortonese, today that that terroir has managed to attract producers and entrepreneurs who, in a more or less noble way, have invested in Derthona, there was a need for someone capable to give a new follow-up to the matter, effectively inaugurating the universe of Timorasso 2.0.

We don't need too many words: Daniele Ricci is the anarchist, revolutionary and counter-current winemaker of the Tortonesi Hills. The one that plays with the long macerations on the skins, which refines in underground amphorae, which eliminates the use of selected yeasts and which does not clarify. But it is not enough to position oneself outside the chorus to receive rebound respect and favorable consideration, one must be meticulous and curious, genuinely competent, aware of what one experiences: Daniele is all this and even more. He can't stop taking risks and putting himself out there, he has never felt so alive as he is now and he does everything to leave a land full of energy like him as a dowry to his son Mattia, now a student of Enology. His artisanal agricultural project is based on principles of respect for the vine and for life; he embraces the dictates of organic farming in the 10 hectares of vineyards, certified by the Bios body and works in the cellar with a view to non-interventionism, letting spontaneous nature take its course.

Known to most as the Timorasso Boy of the present, however, he managed to transfer his mixed courage to know also in red production, from traditional vines such as Barbera and Croatina, exploiting the Tortonian marl, of which the soils in Costa Vescovado are rich, natural source of refinement and evolution. Daniele's challenge is to know how to wait, to have the patience to wait even years before putting his labels on the market, in order to give end consumers unforgettable glasses of kaleidoscopic craftsmanship.