Abruzzo
Sunny, high-altitude, co-op-dominated Abruzzi in central Italy is most widely known for the rustic, solidly built red montepulciano d'Abruzzo (top: the DOCG Colline Teramane) and its light cherry-red cerasuolo, plus the everyday white trebbiano d'Abruzzo.
About the region
Abruzzi (Abruzzo), in central Italy along the Adriatic and cut off from Rome by the Apennines, has ample sunshine, a dry climate, coastal breezes and high-altitude vineyards (three-quarters above 2,000 feet) — seemingly tailor-made for vines, and one of the country's most productive regions. Yet more than three-quarters of its wine is made by large cooperatives, much of it inexpensive or bulk. Its most notable wine is the rustic red montepulciano d'Abruzzo, from the montepulciano grape (not to be confused with Tuscany's sangiovese-based vino nobile di Montepulciano): usually an appealingly rustic, solidly built wine with a soft texture and thick middle fruit, its top tier being the DOCG montepulciano d'Abruzzo Colline Teramane. A summer specialty is the fresh light red (rosé-like) cerasuolo, 'cherry red'. The main white, trebbiano d'Abruzzo, is usually a bland, dry quaffer for the region's fish dishes — though a handful of artisanal producers, chief among them the cult estate Valentini, make extraordinary examples that tower above the rest.
