Winemaker Notes
The current winery was built in 2003 by the brothers Francesco and Vincenzo Cerulli Irelli. Vincenzo is a lawyer and professor of Administrative Law at the Sapienza University of Rome, and Francesco the former president of the winery Casal Thaulero, as well as an Italian motor racing champion of 1972. Today the winery is run by Enrico, Vincenzo’s son, who has a very clear project: that of enhancing the value of the historic estate by replanting vines, aiming to produce more prestigious wines as well as maintaining and nurturing some thirty-year old vines with relatively low yields, but of very high quality. In short, a modern approach but in keeping with tradition.
For over twenty years the company has followed organic farming methods: only organic fertilizers are used, whilst copper and sulfur salts are employed as pesticides.
A warm, Mediterranean vine-growing paradise, in Abruzzo, the distance from mountains to seaside is relatively short. The Apenniness, which run through the center of Italy, rise up on its western side while the Adriatic Sea defines its eastern border.
Wine composition tends to two varieties: Abruzzo’s red grape, Montepulciano and its white, Trebbiano. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo can come in a quaffable, rustic and fruity style that generally drinks best young. It is also capable of making a more serious style, where oak aging tames its purely wild fruit.
Trebbiano in Abruzzo also comes in a couple of varieties. Trebbiano Toscana makes a simple and fruity white. However when meticulously tended, the specific Trebbiano d’Abruzzo-based white wines can be complex and long-lived.
In the region’s efforts to focus on better sites and lower yields, vine acreage has decreased in recent years while quality has increased.
Montepulciano is the second most planted red variety in Italy after Sangiovese, though it is achieves its highest potential in the region of Abruzzo. Consistently enticing and enjoyable, Montepulciano enjoys great popularity throughout central and southern Italy as well. A tiny bit grows with success in California, Argentina and Australia. Somm Secret—Montepulciano is also the name of a village in Tuscany where, confusingly, they don’t grow the Montepulciano grape at all! Sangiovese shines in yet another Tuscan village, here making the reputable wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.