Abruzzo

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The geographical area comprises the coastal and foothill hill belt of Abruzzo, extending for about 25 km in width and 125 km in length, from the Tronto river to the Trigno river.
• The soils derive from Plio-Pleistocene deposits of marine origin, with sandy clays above and yellowish siliceous sands, more or less clayey, interbedded with silts, gravels and clays.
• The soils are generally loose with a sandy-clay structure, tending to be more clayey in the northern part of the area, with medium-low water retention and scarce to modest nutrient content.
• The intermontane basins consist of ancient fluvio-alluvial terraces with low-gradient detrital deposits that make the soils particularly loose.
• The altitude of vine-growing land rises to 1,000 metres above sea level for white-berried varieties intended for the production of base wines for sparkling winemaking.
• The climate is temperate, with average temperatures between 12°C in April and 16°C in October, while July and August tend to be hot and arid with average temperatures of 24-25°C.

• The Greek historian Polybius, who lived between 205 and 123 BC, recounting Hannibal's deeds after the victory at Cannae in 216 BC, praised the wines of this area because they had healed the wounded and restored the men's strength.
• Michele Torcia in 1792, in the work Saggio Itinerario Nazionale pel Paese dei Peligni, described for the first time the presence of the Montepulciano grape variety in Abruzzo, which later became the emblem of the territory from the early 1900s onward.
• Classic-method sparkling wines must be aged for at least eighteen months in bottle, of which at least fifteen months on the fermentation lees.

• The red wine displays an intense ruby colour, with slight violet tints that tend toward garnet with aging, an aroma typical of red fruits and a flavour ranging from dry to off-dry, rightly tannic.
• The white wines are straw-yellow in colour, more or less deep, with floral and fruity notes, good structure and a rather sustained acidity that gives freshness, elegance and pleasantness.
• The sparkling wines, particularly the rosé based on Montepulciano, show excellent acidic structure, a fine and persistent perlage, and aromas and flavours typical of long secondary fermentation in bottle.

• The day-night temperature range and the ventilation favoured by the Gran Sasso and Maiella massifs create optimal conditions for grape health and the accumulation of aromatic substances.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• Specification (EUR-Lex, single document)
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0880
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Tutela Vini d'Abruzzo