Abruzzo

Abruzzo has its wine future still ahead of it. This mountainous region, whose climate is influenced on one side by the nearly 3,000 m high Gran Sasso mountain range and on the other by the Adriatic Sea, is one of the cleanest and least populated areas in Italy. Similar to neighboring Umbria, wine production here was long focused primarily on large volumes of rustic wines produced by cooperatives, without anyone considering the specifics and potential of individual areas. Most vineyards were planted with local varieties Trebbiano Abruzzese and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, which can essentially be grown anywhere in Abruzzo. Fortunately, in recent years, smaller winemakers have started focusing not on quantity but on the quality of their production, and the first interesting structured wines are emerging, such as Montepulcino d'Abruzzo, which is currently the only DOCG appellation (Colline Teramare) in all of Abruzzo. Its rosé variant Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo with its typical cherry color, aroma, and structure is also gaining success.