The house Montepulciano from a family cellar on the Colli Albani hill above Vasto, at 8.90 euros. The Vastese is the southern corner of Abruzzo, on the hills that run down to the Molise border.
Tip: The same estate sells its Trebbiano and Cerasuolo Classico at the identical price, so a three bottle set costs under twenty seven euros.
Pecorino under the Abruzzo DOC created in 2010, at 12.30 euros from the Vasto cellar. Italian Wine Central records 61 percent of Italy's Pecorino plantings in this region.
Tip: Pecorino in Abruzzo is a white grape, nothing to do with the sheep's cheese of the same name. The Nerube line is the estate's step above its Classico bottlings.
Cerasuolo from the Vastese at 12.30 euros. The name comes from cerasa, cherry, and describes the colour rather than the blend, which is Montepulciano at a minimum of 85 percent.
Tip: The estate also bottles a Cerasuolo Classico at 8.90 euros, so this is the one to buy if you want the difference between the two tiers in front of you.
A vintage traditional method sparkling at 21.50 euros from the Vasto estate, which also bottles ancestral method pet nat in white and rosato at 14.50 euros each.
Tip: Traditional method sparkling is not what Abruzzo is known for, which is exactly why it is worth twenty two euros to see what the region does with it.
The Casanova Montepulciano at fifteen euros from a Torano Nuovo estate whose whole production is certified organic. Torano Nuovo sits inside the Colline Teramane DOCG zone.
Tip: Casanova is the entry range across Montepulciano, Cerasuolo and Trebbiano, all fifteen euros, with the Passerina and Pecorino a little below.
A skin contact Trebbiano d'Abruzzo at twenty euros, under the estate's Poggio Varano label. Luciano Pignataro covered its presentation when the estate first showed the macerated white.
Tip: The Poggio Varano line also runs an amphora Montepulciano and a Colline Teramane Cerasuolo Superiore, all twenty euros, for a three bottle set.
A DOCG Montepulciano at fourteen euros from a Tortoreto estate a few kilometres from the Adriatic. The denomination asks for at least 90 percent Montepulciano and a year of ageing.
Tip: The estate's Lui and Polifemo from the same DOCG start at twenty and twenty nine euros, so this is the cheapest entry to Abruzzo's 2003 DOCG.