📍 Abruzzo

Abruzzo is a mountainous region in central Italy on the Adriatic coast. About two thirds of its territory is mountains, and between them and the sea lie hills with vineyards. The region borders Marche in the north, Lazio in the west and Molise in the south. Abruzzo is part of Italian wine.

By volume it is the fifth region of the country. More than two thirds of the wine is made by cooperatives or sold in bulk for blending in other regions, and only about a fifth is released with the DOC category. The main wine is Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, made from the grape of the same name. That grape is not connected with the Tuscan town of Montepulciano, where Vino Nobile is made from Sangiovese. The same grapes give the rosé Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo.

The main white wine is Trebbiano d'Abruzzo. Pecorino, Passerina, Cococciola and Montonico Bianco also grow here. In the Colline Teramane appellation, Montepulciano yields wine of the top DOCG category.

Abruzzo also makes sweet and sparkling wines. The landscape is rugged and beautiful: against the Gran Sasso massif, whose peaks rise above two and a half thousand metres, the vineyards stretch from the sea toward the slopes.