We’re very pleased to present—thanks to the Odderos’ importer—Monlià, the fully formed manifestation of the vision of the younger generation of Oddero, Isabella Boffa and Pietro Viglino-Oddero, in partnership with friends Fabrizio Borgogno and Stefano Carbone of La Morra’s wine destination Osteria More e Macine. The project is in the Colli Tortonesi, in the far easternmost quadrant of Piemonte, and focused on a single wine: the white Timorasso.
The best examples of Timorasso we know have the sort of green grape, dried honey, skinned nut, almost waxy quality associated with the best Chenin Blancs of Vouvray or, even Hermitage Blanc in the northern Rhône Valley. But its minerality, verve and brilliant fruit and texture are more akin to, I’d say, a Côtes Chalonnaise Chardonnay like Rully or Mercurey Blanc. The newly-released 2024 Monliá is just that wine!
Exciting, fun to drink and loaded with character, even if you’re not drawing comparisons with other wines, you’ll be loving it for what it is: a robust, while at the same time elegant, partner to a wide variety of dishes and delicious all on its own. One of our favorite wine food pairings is Timorasso with the poached veal in tuna mayonnaise so famous throughout Piemonte, but it also loves richer alpine cheeses, salty, smoked meats and all kinds of fish or seafood dishes.
It’ll drink great as soon as we can get it into your hands but, as I mentioned before, this is a grape that can age like fine white Burgundy, and we recommend you stash a half-case or so for that express purpose while drinking the other six young for its immediacy and verve.
