Winter Truffle (Tuber Melanosporum)
Winter truffle is the English trade name for Tuber melanosporum, the black truffle with the strongest aroma of the year.
Its season in Spain runs from December to April.
Outside those months there is no fresh winter truffle: what is offered is either another species or a preserved format.
Why the winter truffle is the one to buy
Tuber melanosporum ripens in winter, in limestone soil, after cold nights. The aroma develops only at the end of that ripening.
That is why only ripe pieces are harvested. The dog marks the ripe truffle and leaves the unripe one in the ground; a truffle dug too early does not ripen afterwards.
The summer truffle, Tuber aestivum, is a different species with a season from May to September, a paler flesh and a much milder aroma. It is not an unripe winter truffle.
How to recognise a ripe winter truffle
Four checks are enough, and three of them happen before you cut.
- Skin: black, with small, tightly packed pyramid-shaped warts.
- Flesh when cut: dark purple-brown, marbled with fine, branching white veins.
- Smell: penetrating and earthy, with a note of damp woodland. A piece with no smell is unripe or past its prime.
Season: December to April
The campaign starts in December and ends in April. In those four months the truffle is harvested, and only in those months is there fresh product.
Within the season the quantity varies week to week with the weather, which is why availability is confirmed per order rather than promised in advance.
For a fixed date, Christmas, New Year or a dinner, ask early. Those are the weeks of highest demand.
The grades of winter truffle in the trade
Grading is by shape and by the state of the skin, not by aroma. A grower explains the price gap as labour: a round piece is cleaned in about two minutes, an irregular one full of soil in fifteen.
- Extra: round, whole, with no cosmetic damage. For display and for even slices.
- First and Second: same aroma, less regular shape. For the kitchen, where the shape is not seen.
- Pieces: the same truffle, broken during lifting or cleaning. Same aroma, lowest price.
Related pages:
- Tuber Melanosporum: the Black Truffle
- Buy Black Truffle Direct from the Grower
- Fresh Black Truffle, in Season December to April
- Black Truffle Price per Kilo
When is winter truffle season?
From December to April. In those months Tuber melanosporum is harvested in Spain; after that there is no fresh winter truffle until the next season.
What is the difference between winter truffle and summer truffle?
They are two species. Summer truffle is Tuber aestivum, with a season from May to September and a much milder aroma. It does not replace the winter truffle.
Order winter truffle from the current harvest
Tell us the weight and the day you need it in the kitchen. We confirm which pieces have been harvested and their real weight before you pay.
Order now