Pecorino d'Abruzzo trade tasting notes (plus some surprise Montepulciano)

WINE TALK
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We tasted 8 Pecorinos at the formal session plus a few at the informal setup outside the room, which also had 10 or so Montepulcianos. Many of the wineries there were looking for an importer so I can’t say what’s available in the USA or in MA.

I categorically do not like Montepulciano, it’s too bitey with sharp tannins. But https://www.sanlorenzovini.com/ had 2 that were quite good. Casabianca is a good greeter or patio wine, fruity with no bite and minimal soft tannin. Oinos is a heavy full bodied version worthy of osso buco weight dishes.

Informal Pecorinos my notes are just the AWS scoring style (out of 20). Noteworthy:
cantinastrappelli.it - 18
fossocornovini.it 18.5

One Trebbiano from tenutaterraviva.it was quite good at 18.

The Pecorinos were interesting, I’d only had one before (from Marche, which the Abruzzo contingent strongly said were Very Different. Ok.

www.famigliadecerchio.it
Yeasty biscuity nose, peach palate, good acid, long finish, not complex.

Great complex nose, medium finish, good for scallops & rich seafood.

toasted biscuit nose, some citrus. strong acid, tasty and complex.

cantinastrapelli.it
Nice bready nose, long finish, good with fried chicken, bread & butter, pâté

fattoriagiuseppesavini.it
muted but velvety nose, sauv blanc notes, grapefuit & lemon.
good with swordfish, chicken picatta.

vinimastrangelo.it
great lemon grapefruit nose, some yeast.
muted palate but might open up.

poderidaurizio.it
very sauv blanc nose, possible sulphur, great if you like that
bright palate, good body, high acid, good for pasta with lemon/garlic/cheese

tenutaterraviva.it
very flinty nose, high acid palate, lots going on
good with chinese pork or mandarin chicken

jim

1 Like
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As a person who almost categorically dislikes Montepulcianos, I must say: wut?

I’m interested - which wines have you had? I’m really curious to hear which Montepulcianos have any bite or grip to their tannins! To me, Montepulciano is basically Italy’s answer to new world Merlot: a dark, plummy wine with modest to moderate levels of acidity and very soft and gentle tannins. It normally produces wines that are accessible, inoffensive and utterly boring.

Basically the only Montepulcianos with quite a bit of structure that I can think of are Valentini and Emidio Pepe - two most atypical examples of this often so dull variety. They do pack quite a bit of power, acidity and tannins. However, one really can’t base their view on the variety on these two producers. They are more than just head and shoulders above everything else.

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I had them over 20 years ago and dismissed the grape as unpalatable so never recorded them. Until yesterday I hadn’t had one I liked. Maybe I wasn’t buying good enough wines but I never saw any over $15.

The issue I have isn’t a grippy tannin; it’s a sharp low note similar to an overoaked wine had too early. It doesn’t last and it doesn’t feel astringent, so I could be completely wrong blaming the tannins. It could just be a flavor I don’t like. Maybe brash is a better descriptor than sharp.

jim

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Alright. Then it sounds more like generic cheap Montepulciano. As the grape is a very late ripening variety, it has only recently begun ripening reliably everywhere. Probably 20 years ago many vintages in Abruzzo and other nearby regions Montepulcianos might’ve struggled to ripen, especially in less successful sites and when grown with very high yields.

Wines made with less ripe Montepulciano grapes tend to be just underwhelming and dull with relatively simple and light fruit flavors - and it’s entirely possible some producers might’ve tried to fix this lack of fruit concentration by just over-extracting their raw material, resulting in this kind of extracted, not necessarily tannic yet still phenolic roughness, exacerbated by the relative lack of fruit.

However, nowadays most Montepulcianos aren’t particularly sharp, brash or rough. However, all too often they’re just simple, dull and fruity reds. The price point has remained more or less the same, though!