Between the tallest peak south of the Alps and the Adriatic Sea, comes a versatile red wine

If you’ve ever ordered wine by the glass, chances are you’ve had a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. It’s likely to be easy, fruity, and inexpensive, a perfect bistro wine. (Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is not to be confused with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which is a different grape, sangiovese, from a different region, Tuscany and the town of Montepulciano.) As a grape, montepulciano is deeply pigmented and rich in potential alcohol, which back in the day made it a favorite in northern Italy and France to add oomph to wines that were deemed too thin. Up until the 1970s, wine cooperatives ruled, shipping bulk wine north by the tank load.

Much has changed since then. The cooperatives are still powerful, but there are now 400 family-owned wineries too. Many are making powerful versions of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, rather than the simple and easy bistro wines. On a recent trip to Abruzzo, I was surprised at just how tannic and structured Montepulciano d’Abruzzo can be, since until then I had mostly experienced the quaffable and cheap versions. The fact is that montepulciano is an extremely versatile grape, capable of making everything from fragrant rosés to cellar-worthy wines.

The problem with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is consumer confusion owing to the wide range of prices. “You can find Montepulciano d’Abruzzo for $1.50 or for $150. What’s the difference? We make the difference. Producers make the difference,” says Attilio Alfino, winemaker at Masciarelli winery.

You can’t talk about Montepulciano d’Abruzzo without talking about Gianni Masciarelli. After founding his winery in 1981, he was the first to combine quality and quantity. “In those days, there were only wines in bulk,” Alfino says. “No one ever believed you could make a premium wine from montepulciano. It was a crazy idea, but he believed in that.” After building a company that changed the world’s perception of Abruzzo wine, Masciarelli died in 2008 of a heart attack at age 52. His wife, Marina Cvetic, and daughter Miriam Masciarelli now run the show.

Gianni Masciarelli was an innovator, introducing high-density vineyards, the guyot system of vine training, and aging in wood barrels instead of concrete vats. That improved quality and raised the bar for the whole region. His daughter Miriam recalls, “He was a big fan of his land, Abruzzo.” She recounts how he would go to international wine fairs and “spend two hours talking about Abruzzo and the last five minutes talking about his wines. He was ambassador for all the region. What makes a wine region great is not just one winery, it’s 1001 wineries. So he was always pushing, always helping other wine producers.”

One beneficiary was Sabatino di Properzio, co-owner and winemaker at La Valentina. “One time he invited about ten producers to his property,” he recalls. “He rented a small bus, offered us lunch and dinner, and we tasted all his wines. He would explain everything he had done.”

Abruzzo does montepulciano best

Montepulciano is the second most-planted red grape in Italy, after sangiovese. It grows in six regions, from Abruzzo down to Puglia. But Abruzzo does it best. Di Properzio explains why on a terrace overlooking a vineyard behind his winery. Gesturing toward the Apennine mountains, he says, “Only in Abruzzo do you have 2900-meter mountains that are only 40 kilometers from the sea.”

Winemaker Luigi Valari, an old friend of Masciarelli, explains why Abruzzo is ideal for the grape: “Montepulciano is the last variety to ripen. If you don’t have the right weather with a constant breeze, montepulciano is impossible to grow because the botrytis [noble rot] attacks immediately. The bunches are destroyed completely. So Abruzzo is the place with the best conditions for ventilation, because we have mountains and sea so close.”

Speaking of other regions where montepulciano grows, Di Properzio says, “South of Abruzzo sometimes montepulciano burns. The wine is too rich, like marmalade. And north, it’s too cold.” Abruzzo hits the sweet spot.

Di Properzio takes me inside to show a plastic 3D map, the kind you’d find in grade school. “This map gives you an idea on how Abruzzo is full of mountains,” he says, adding that “more than three-quarters of the region is occupied by mountains.” On this map, you can see Gran Sasso, the tallest peak in Europe south of the Alps. Between that and the Adriatic Sea, there are three little white flags representing his vineyards. Two are towards the sea, and one is at higher elevation up in the slopes. He wants these different plots to be evident in the glass.

Di Properzio makes four Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, for different occasions and tastes. There’s the classic line (“a wine you can drink in front of the television looking at a soccer match, or outside with BBQ”); Spelt Riserva, which is aged 16 months in mixed wood (“Spelt is more complex, but without losing drinkability”); and two old-vine single-vineyard cru: Bellovedere, matured in a mix of oak and concrete, and the barrique-aged Binomio, a collaboration with Soave producer Stefano Inama. The Bellovedere vineyard sits behind the winery, while Binomio is up in the mountains. “They’re completely different wines,” he says. “It’s not only altitude that makes a difference. Temperature excursion does too.”

A range of options

Most wineries make several Montepulciano d’Abruzzos. Masciarelli, for instance, has five versions, including a single barrel (900 bottles) of La Botte di Gianni. Their flagship is Villa Gemma Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Riserva, because it comes from the vineyard where Masciarelli first started some forty years ago. It’s now an icon of Abruzzo wine. Powerful, complex, and very expressive, it shows dark plum and notes of cocoa and cigar box, with ripe, polished tannins.

Another favorite of mine is Ciavolich’s Fosso Cancelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Fosso Cancelli is a line of wines Chiara Ciavolich created after she took over the winery several years after her father’s stroke. She was only 26 and had trained to be a lawyer. She was at a crucial crossroads: Make wine? Or sell everything and live on the interest? She decided to stay and invest in the winery.

The first Fosso Cancelli was in homage to her father and the historic way of vinifying montepulciano — in concrete with spontaneous fermentation and no temperature control. She ages the wine in bottle for three full years before release. This is highly unusual and brings elegance and complexity. Other grape varieties in the Fosso Cancelli line age in amphora, concrete, and Slavonian oak cask. All have extremely limited production, between 3000 and 6000 bottles. But all are full of character and worth seeking out.

Ciavolich makes two other Montepulciano d’Abruzzos that are far easier to find. There’s Divus Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, first created by her mother in 1985 for her father to have a new project after his stroke. The daughter later brought it up-to-date and made it more approachable with stainless steel fermentation, temperature control, and filtration. “The goal was modernization without losing the character of terroir,” she says. “It’s a comfort-zone wine.” There’s also her classic Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a fresh, fruity wine, done entirely in stainless steel. It does well with a slight chill before serving.

Other labels to watch for include Cataldi Madonna, Illuminati, Cantina Zaccagnini, Cantina Frentana, and if you can afford it, Emidio Pepe and Valentini. When it comes to Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, remember Alfino’s words: “Producers make the difference.”

Published in the Winter 2023 issue of Tastes of Italia.