Montepulciano in Abruzzo

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Elegant

A wine the Ulisse brothers present as a tribute to the area around the estate at Crecchio and to the history tied to it, and which the producer describes as marked above all by its class.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Maceration in the press then static settling after a soft pressing, with temperature-controlled fermentation and steel ageing. The estate calls the bouquet intense and the flavour fruity and floral with a bitter almond aftertaste.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Fruity · Easygoing

Six to seven days of skin maceration with the must at 28 to 30 degrees, then five months in steel. The estate calls the bouquet intense and fine, with cherry and red fruit on the palate, and serves it at 16 to 18 degrees.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Savoury

The co-operative's Riserva, made since 1992 from grapes picked in the second half of October. Long skin maceration at controlled temperature in steel, malolactic in vat, then a minimum of nine months in wood. Deep, complex and persistent.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Romantic

Montepulciano given a short cold skin contact, then standard white vinification and steel ageing. A cherry-pink wine with a floral, lingering nose and a fresh, dry, gentle palate, served at 10 to 12 degrees.

Dry · Full-bodied · High acidity · Fruity · Savoury

Soft pressing then a 25 day white fermentation at 16 degrees in stainless steel. Cerasuolo red in colour, with an intense fruity and floral nose led by cherry and a fresh, intense, persistent palate.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Savoury · Rustic

Eight to ten days of skin maceration with the must at 26 degrees in steel, then a year in large Slavonian casks. Intense ruby tending to garnet with age, an intense and complex nose with plum notes, and a soft, pleasantly tannic palate.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Elegant

Montepulciano vinified entirely as a white, with no skin contact at all, from free-run juice and a first press at 0.2 bar with indigenous yeasts. The result is a powder-pink wine the estate describes as highly versatile at table.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium acidity · Fruity · Rustic

Picked in the second half of September and given 18 to 24 hours on the skins at 12 to 15 degrees. The estate describes a deep cerasa pink, fragrant cherry and ripe marasca, and a velvety, broad palate with notable body.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

From the Vigna alta cru at Collecorvino, 250 metres up on clay-limestone, cropped at 5,000 vines per hectare and picked in the second ten days of October. Deep, impenetrable ruby, powerful on nose and palate, rich and harmonious.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

From the youngest rows of the Loreto Aprutino estate, hand-picked and left about eight hours on the skins before white vinification. The estate notes bright pink reflections and light fruity and floral aromas typical of the variety, with a fresh, fruity and savoury drink.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Savoury · Funky

Destemmed grapes go straight to the press and are left a few hours in contact with the skins before a soft pressing. The must ferments spontaneously in terracotta, and both malolactic and about six months of ageing happen in the same amphorae.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Funky

Whole berries are fermented after destemming so that only the nobler skin tannins are drawn out, with maceration kept to a maximum of ten days to hold the balance between Montepulciano's power and the drink's freshness, then about two years in buried amphora.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

From a two hectare pergola planted in 1972 and cropped at 50 hectolitres, picked in three passes from the best-placed parts of the vineyard. Dense ruby, ripe red fruit balanced by black pepper and liquorice with balsamic, chocolate and tobacco tones.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Savoury

From a corner of the estate where exposure and climate bring the fruit to an unusual natural balance. Picking is decided by walking the rows and tasting berries rather than by a fixed schedule, and the wine is the estate's Cerasuolo Superiore.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Savoury

A 1.6 hectare Montepulciano plot with small, thick-skinned berries, cropped at 33 hectolitres per hectare and fermented twenty days on indigenous yeasts. The estate notes yellow peach, sage, citron, cinnamon, marzipan and earth, with silky tannins and a saline character.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Known locally as the wine of one night, since the skins stay in the must only a few hours, long enough for the bright pink colour. Organic Montepulciano from the Vigna giovane at Collecorvino, then about three months in steel.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Fruity · Savoury

Cerasuolo red with bright ruby veins. The estate finds small fleshy red fruits, marasca and cherry with red petals, and calls the palate soft and dry, fresh, savoury, intense and persistent.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative

The estate's Decennali bottling, drawn from mature stocks in the Tenuta Sant'Andrea on the Colline Pescaresi, with bunch selection starting at veraison and ten years of ageing before the wine leaves the cellar.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Savoury

Born in 1987 from long-established plots on the Loreto Aprutino estate, planted in 1970, 1980 and 1990. After steel fermentation with delestage and pumpovers and a year in wood, the estate describes a wine that is fresh, tannic, soft, full-bodied and ripe, improving with time.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Savoury · Fruity

Montepulciano pressed by foot in wooden vats and fermented off the skins in glass-lined concrete. WineMag found raspberry, jammy ripe strawberry and pomegranate over a fine floral layer, and a rosato made for the table rather than the aperitivo.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Savoury

The estate's organic Montepulciano, trodden by foot and raised in glass-lined concrete without oak, then bottled unfiltered and decanted off its sediment by hand before shipping.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Picked in the first ten days of October, soft-pressed and clarified before a temperature-controlled fermentation in steel. Pale pink with violet tints, intensely fruity with cherry and floral notes, medium-bodied and velvety at the close.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Selected Montepulciano picked by hand into small crates and given a long stay in barrique. Intense ruby with garnet reflections, preserve and spice on the nose with smoky and balsamic nuances, and a full, soft, velvety palate.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Rustic

Made since 2007 to record the era when Montepulciano fermented in concrete. Grapes are pressed in the estate's old wooden press, fermented spontaneously in concrete without temperature control, rested a year in the same vats and held at least three years in bottle.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Montepulciano from guyot-trained rows picked in the second ten days of September, soft-pressed after crushing, settled in steel and rested six months in steel before bottling.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Deep, dense ruby. The estate finds ripe red fruit led by cherry in spirit with violet, then tertiary hazelnut, pepper and coffee from long ageing, and a soft, enveloping palate with elegant integrated tannins and a robust structure.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Savoury

A deep ruby red releasing ripe aromas of dried plum, dates and delicate spices. The estate describes a warm, enveloping palate of notable structure where power and harmony hold each other in balance.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

The Riserve-line Montepulciano from Rosciano. Dense, deep ruby, with ripe plum and sour cherry moving into darker tobacco, vanilla and liquorice, and a velvety, powerful palate.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

A Montepulciano grown at Vasto at 190 metres with southern and eastern exposure and fermented in red at a controlled 25 degrees. Intense ruby with light garnet shading, typical fruity and spiced aromas, and a full palate marked by fruit in spirit.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Savoury

The estate's DOCG Montepulciano, named after the podere on the hill that once held the royal lookout from which the coast was watched for pirate ships.

Dry · Full-bodied · High acidity · Savoury · Refreshing

The first wine the family makes each year and their test of the vintage. Carefully chosen grapes give a rosato of good structure in which freshness and minerality are the traits the estate singles out.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Rustic

Picked in the second ten days of October, the estate's Riserva is described as rich on the palate and loaded with ripe tannins that give it an unusual softness for its weight.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Savoury

Guyot-trained Montepulciano picked in the second ten days of October, macerated 10 to 14 days in steel with manual pumpovers and fermented spontaneously on indigenous yeasts, then rested 12 months before bottling.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Savoury · Rustic

The first line the family created. Intense ruby, with dark fruit of sour cherry, redcurrant and blackberry woven into liquorice, cinnamon and black pepper, then a harmonious palate of great softness carried by ripe, velvety tannins.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Fruity · Refreshing

One of the estate's classics, made by the method worked out for Pie delle Vigne. Bright cherry colour, red fruit, strawberry and almond on the nose, with freshness and persistence the producer singles out.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Fruity · Easygoing

The estate's no-wood Montepulciano, raised in steel and concrete since 2012. Cataldi Madonna describes clean crisp fruit opening on sour cherry and moving to ripe morello, with freshness and drinkability carrying an intriguing complexity.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Elegant

A blend of separately vinified plots at San Martino sulla Marrucina. The estate describes complexity, freshness and balance, a fine velvety tannic frame and a clean close built to improve with years.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Bold

Made from the vintage's best lots and raised on the lees with batonnage in barrique. The estate describes notable structure, persistence and balance, with floral and spiced aromatics adding a fresh depth to the fruit.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Fruity · Easygoing

The estate's volume Montepulciano from Loreto Aprutino. Many violet shades, intense persistent aromas of cherry, plum and fresh raspberry, a palate rich in small red fruits, and a brief oak passage that leaves dense but unobtrusive tannin.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Rustic

Hand-picked in the first half of October from the estate's own Montepulciano selection, macerated 25 to 30 days with pumpovers and delestage, then nearly two years in large Italian oak.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Contemplative · Bold

A cru born in 2001 from a selection of Montepulciano off a parcel more than 45 years old, trained to the Abruzzese pergola on a well-ventilated east-facing ridge. Old vines and low yields give a polyphenol-rich, full wine the family calls earthy and refined at once.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

White vinification at a controlled 16 degrees after only a few hours on the skins, from spurred-cordon vines at 190 to 200 metres. Cherry red in colour, fruity with woodland notes, and harmonious on the palate.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Savoury

First made in 2003, Notari blends fruit from three old vineyards with different exposures, ages and training systems. The estate presents it as the wine that best states the character of hills that face the sea under the shelter of the Gran Sasso.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Rustic

Ten to twelve days of fermentative maceration in concrete, then nine months resting in the same material. The estate calls the bouquet intense with red fruit and sour cherry on the palate, from Villamagna fruit on medium-textured soil.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Rustic

Drawn from vineyards picked out under the co-operative's Vigneto Qualita project, which selects the best sites and the most committed growers. Vinification uses a prolonged maceration with temperature peaks around 30 degrees.

Dry · Full-bodied · High acidity · Contemplative · Savoury

First made in 1997 using the old local svacata, a share of red vinification added to a white one at mid-fermentation. The estate says its nature asks for the drinker's cooperation, since it can read as pink or as red depending on the moment.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Picked in the last ten days of October from a plot at Controguerra, then two years in barrique and over two more in bottle. The estate describes a ruby so deep it seems impenetrable, blackberry, plum and raspberry, then vanilla, tobacco and liquorice.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Easygoing · Savoury

The house Montepulciano from vineyards at Controguerra, Corropoli and Torano Nuovo between 200 and 270 metres. Long skin maceration in steel then six months in large Slavonian casks give a round, harmonious wine with ripe red fruit and persistence.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Fruity · Easygoing

Agriverde says this bottling dates from the beginning of its production. Ruby red with violet reflections, varietal aromas of wild berries and sour cherry with a light floral touch of violet, and a fruity palate with great freshness, soft tannins and balance.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Fruity · Refreshing

Made from three separate lots: bled-off red must, very light whole-bunch pressing and cold skin maceration. The estate describes brilliant cherry red, strawberry, pomegranate and cherry with the local citrus lift and clear rose florals.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

From tendone-trained Montepulciano planted between 2003 and 2010. A bright, delicate colour, intense aromas of red-skinned berries with a fresh note of barely ripe marasca, and complex red fruit on the palate with balanced acidity.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Deep red with violet tints. The estate describes rose and blueberry preserve leading into white pepper, cumin, liquorice and graphite, then an imposing palate marked by dense, vital tannins over a lively freshness.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Savoury

Ruby red with violet reflections. The estate credits a careful passage in fine oak for the aromatic complexity: ripe red fruit of sour cherry in spirit, redcurrant and wild blackberry with violet, enriched by toasted cocoa, tobacco, leather and coffee.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

The estate's rosato from red grapes grown at the foot of the Maiella, presented as a noble pink built for the table across both seafood and mountain cooking.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Savoury

From Montepulciano grown at Capestrano at 450 metres inside the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga national park. Intense cerasuolo pink with marked fresh red fruit of strawberry and cherry, and a palate where acidity and minerality meet a soft structure.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Deep, luminous ruby. A rich nose of ripe plum and sour cherry over wilted violet and undergrowth, then balsamic eucalyptus, liquorice, dark chocolate and tobacco, with a warm, robust palate held by silky tannins and vibrant freshness.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Montepulciano from a six hectare plot at Cugnoli, juice run off by gravity with no pressing. The estate describes intense, clean cherry, strawberry and red fruit, a fresh saline attack with good acid nerve, and a persistent close.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Fruity · Savoury

Pergola-grown Montepulciano cropped at 45 hectolitres per hectare and raised only in steel and bottle. The estate notes redcurrant, blueberry and sour cherry with violet and pink pepper, a fresh attack and silky fine tannins.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Elegant

The estate's DOCG Riserva from Canzano. Intense ruby tending to garnet, with very ripe red fruit and woodland berries alongside a wide range of sweet spices, and a profile the producer sums up as elegance with power.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Savoury · Rustic

The estate's first wine, drawn from staggered picking across the whole Loreto Aprutino vineyard. Clean fruit with a measured spice lift from old vines and restrained wood, well-evolved tannins and a natural salinity.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Free-run juice taken under vacuum pressing, cryomacerated and raised in steel. Medium-intensity cerasuolo pink, clear cherry, strawberry and fresh red fruit with pomegranate, and an agile, savoury palate with a saline mineral trail.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Savoury

The estate's Riserva, from tendone vines planted between 1995 and 2002 on clay-limestone at 300 metres at Loreto Aprutino, four kilometres from the church of Santa Maria in Piano whose fresco gives the wine its name.

Dry · Medium-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Savoury · Bold

Intense ruby with a lightly garnet rim. The estate describes red cherry and sour cherry with bramble, liquorice, violet, tobacco and leather over gentle secondary notes of toast and vanilla, then fresh acidity and solid but supple, slightly granular tannins.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · High acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Picked in mid-October after berry tasting and chemical analysis, with long skin maceration and full malolactic. Deep, intense ruby, sour cherry, blackberry, plum, liquorice, cocoa and violet with integrated toast, vanilla and spice, and abundant granular tannins that turn velvety in bottle.

Dry · Full-bodied · High acidity · Savoury · Contemplative

A rosato of red-wine proportions. WineMag found the 2016 coral pink and deep, opening slowly on wild strawberry and orange peel over wet stone, then round on the palate with amalgamated salinity and a long mineral close.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · High acidity · Contemplative · Savoury

Pure Montepulciano built for decades in bottle. A 1985 opened in 2026 showed a deep orange-tinged red, cherry and dried plum over almond, spice, tobacco, liquorice and cocoa, with evolved acidity and smooth, polished tannins.

Dry · Full-bodied · High acidity · Savoury · Fruity

The estate says its colour is why no other name would do, and that its structure and the character of the grape make it a wine for many uses rather than a light pink in the French mould.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Savoury · Bold

Ten to twelve days of fermentation on the skins at 28 degrees with a submerged cap, then another ten to fifteen days of maceration and up to two years in large Slavonian casks. Intense ruby, ripe plum running to preserve, soft and harmonious on the palate.

Dry · Medium-bodied · High acidity · Refreshing · Fruity

Montepulciano given twelve hours on the skins at low temperature and then vinified as a white. The estate describes it as saline and fresh, with intense fresh cherry, sour cherry and pomegranate.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Hand-picked Montepulciano from a single high-density vineyard at San Martino sulla Marrucina. The estate describes it as powerful and elegant, with explosive aromatics that keep changing over years in bottle.

Dry · Full-bodied · Firm tannin · Medium acidity · Bold · Contemplative

Twenty to twenty-five days of skin maceration at 28 degrees followed by a further ten to fifteen, then 30 months in American oak. Intense ruby turning garnet, ripe red fruit and preserve with black pepper, and a soft, balanced palate with velvety tannins.

Dry · Full-bodied · Medium tannin · Medium acidity · Elegant · Savoury

From the Zanna vineyard at Controguerra, the estate's first plot, at 280 metres on marly soil with clay. After 24 months in Slavonian oak the wine is ruby, turning garnet with years, with blackberry and wilted flowers and a velvety, soft-tannined palate.