Winemaker Notes
Zanna is intense ruby red in color, turning garnet with time. There are hints of blackberry, berry fruits, and dried flowers on the nose. On the palate the wine has great texture and soft tannins, with an elegant and long finish.
It will pair perfectly with red meat, game, truffles, and aged cheeses, particularly gorgonzola.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2019 Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Riserva Colline Teramane Zanna is wrapped up tight in its youthful state. Coaxing reveals minty herbs, blackberries and hints of pine. Sleek and racy upon entry, it displays elegance up front yet quickly gains a tactile grip as depths of tart red and black fruits saturate over a coating of edgy tannins. Dramatically long and intense, the 2019 tapers off with structure, mixing primary concentration with residual acidity to create a push-pull of tension. Bury this vintage of Zanna in the cellar.
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.
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.