Derthona (Colli Tortonesi)

Derthona is the name the growers of the Tortona hills use for their varietal Timorasso — Derthona was the Roman town on the site of modern Tortona. The wine is made inside the Colli Tortonesi DOC in the far south-east corner of Piedmont, and it is the reason a grape that had almost disappeared is now one of Italy's most collected whites: full-bodied, saline and firmly acidic, it starts on lemon and green apple and ages into honey, beeswax and a kerosene-like note that drinkers reach for Riesling to describe.