Poggio Archetipo Timorasso Terre Di Libarna Colli Tortonesi 2023

Poggio Archetipo is made by Ezio Poggio, one of the small growers who helped recover the native Timorasso grape in the Colli Tortonesi, on the border of Piedmont and Liguria. Viticulture here goes back a long way, but war and rural depopulation nearly wiped out the local vines before producers like Poggio replanted them from 2005. The fruit for this wine comes from the Terre di Libarna, a higher, cooler pocket of the hills where calcareous soils and a continental climate give Timorasso its balance of ripeness and firm acidity. At 12.5 per cent this is a lighter, fresher expression of the grape than the more powerful cru wines of the zone. It is fermented and aged on its fine lees, which gives texture and a gentle savoury note to the palate, with no new oak to cover the fruit. In the glass it is pale straw, showing lemon, white peach, pear and a waxy, herbal character, with a saline mineral thread. The palate is crisp and dry, with good grip and a clean finish. Serve well chilled at 9 to 11 degrees.