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Abruzzo Cherry-Picked; the Holiday & Lifestyle Guide to Italy's Rocky Heart 
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Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Wine – Gathering a Landscape in a Glass
© Sammy Dunham
What can five years living in Abruzzo bring? A deep falling in love with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine perhaps: a red that is made from an absolute minimum of 85% fat & juicy Montepulciano grapes and 15% Sangiovese grape mix that makes a wonderful fruity dry Italian red wine.
It’s a wine of jewels; its grapes are deep purple, their juice being the colour of a pressed ruby. Abruzzo’s soil has a low acidity content and delivers a playful soft violet red wine that is low in tannins and draws upon ever so happy childhood memories…picking blackcurrants, blackberries & raspberries; granny’s sweet but sour plum crumbles, with an adult sprinkling of local liquorice…all contribute to this wine’s character, enlivening it rather than letting it wallow in the tepid backwaters of just-another-red-wine.
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo used to be off the radar as far as any wine collectors were concerned, but the smaller producers have slowly beaten down and educated the former wine snobs that had formerly miscast this Abruzzo wine as simple peasant wine. 2000 years after the first wine-growers began experimenting with this grape, it has firmly established itself as Italy’s fourth vine, cultivated at no more than 500 masl; its vines do not suffer the insufferable and enjoy summer showers carried from the beautiful Apennine mountains, ensconced in the knowledge that they can spread their vines in one of least populated areas of Europe.
At its most immature Montepulciano d’Abruzzo can be drunk at just five months old without any wood restrictions; by the time it gains its Reserve honours the alcohol content is up to 12% and it has spent 6 months aged in wood. There are some fantastic bio-dynamic growers like Emidio Pepe who forgo the wood, thus the official Reserve title, but no matter as their Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wines have complex flavours that feel they have gathered an entire landscape in, allowing you to breath Abruzzo without any need for artificial wood caskets.
Who’s this Wine Good for?:
Anyone looking for a wine that literally is good drank with everything: I have yet to find something that I cannot enjoy this with. It has to compete against the Abruzzo fiery peperoncino chilli, so rather than fight a dish it helps to embrace it.
Those who have circulation problems – Montepulciano d’Abruzzo has high levels of anti-oxidants and polyphenols that reduce the likelihood of fatty lesions and blood clots.
Our Top 3 Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Wine Producers
1. Emidio Pepe – absolutely any year or wine but can be expensive if you don’t buy direct!
2. Zaccagnini – great all rounder available from most wine portals.
3. Cerulli Irelli Spinozzi – fantastic ‘Reserves’, Montepulciano brought up to date
Further Reading
Listen to the New York Times Wine Columnist, Eric Asimov Montepulciano d’Abruzzo’s wine feature
For wine lovers in the UK read here of where to buy Montepulciano d’Abruzzo at local supermarkets
View our Remains of the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Grape Photograph on The Guardian
About the Author
Sammy Dunham is a web marketing consultant, designing websites & writing copy to optimise web presence for her clients at webSEOlive. Past lives saw her studying in Firenze after which she taught History of Art & English and lived in Barcelona & The Bahamas. Keen on travel & photography, food & wine, co-editing Life in Abruzzo is her perfect job.Related Information
- Capestrano Montepulciano d’Abruzzo: the Joy of an Old Friend
- Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo (2006)
- Walking in Nerito & Scrumptious Dining at La Rocchetta
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Great article. Just started writing for boutique wine store in Manhattan and your piece helped a lot.
by oil I mean low-grade, sulfur rich, heavy petroleum, not olive oil of course. thanks!
I agree with every word that you say. I have lived in abruzzo for about 10 years of my life and still travel there often.
It is a beautiful part of Italy, unknown to most tourists.
What perhaps is not known to your UK readers is that HALF of Abruzzo, Roseto included, has been designated as an oil district.
Some of the companies that have requested drilling permits are Italy’s ENI, UK’s Mediterranean Oil and Gas, Ireland’s Petroceltic.
It is a complex story – people have been fighting this for two years, and while we have had some success it is important to raise awareness outside the Italian speaking community.
Some information is here:
Abruzzo drilling map – Roseto included:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HC8MR7OWhgM/Sagz0P9eowI/AAAAAAAABC4/e_dqcHwIQFA/s1600-h/Abruzzo-concessioniweb-ok2.jpg
From the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8152759.stm
Our activist website:
http://www.savethemontepulciano.blogspot.com
In English:
http://sundial.csun.edu/2009/09/csun-math-professor-fights-legal-battle-far-from-home/